"Boss, have you ever heard of the Skoda car brand?" asked Huang Deping on the other end of the phone.

"Nonsense, of course I've heard it. Li Yadong rolled his eyes, he really thought he was an old man who had never seen the world.

One of the four oldest car brands in the world, along with Mercedes-Benz, Ford, and Skoda, how could he not have heard of it?

During World War II, the Germans occupied the Czech Republic and ordered the Skoda factory to build tanks for them, and the Skoda T-25 and T-15 small and medium-sized tanks were called land sports cars on the battlefield at that time, and they were invincible.

Skoda's pure European manufacturing process can be seen, is it possible that Skoda is going to sell it now?

Li Yadong only knew that Skoda was finally taken into the pocket by the public, a typical small fish eating big fish, but he couldn't remember what year it happened.

It's just that...... If it was Skoda, he estimated...... You should not be able to gnaw on yourself.

The Skoda of this era is far from being compared with the Skoda that will be crippled by the public in the future, and the European market can be said to be in short supply.

"Oh, hehe......" Huang Deping smiled, where would he have thought that the boss knew much more about the automotive industry than him, but Skoda was currently inconspicuous in the Asian market and not well-known, and subconsciously thought that the boss might not have heard of it.

Originally, I was going to talk to him about science popularization, but now that the boss knows, it's the best.

"Skoda wants to sell?"

"I didn't say I was selling. Huang Deping explained, "As the Czech Republic is currently implementing economic system reform, many companies are facing the problem of privatization, Skoda is no exception, after the lack of state support, Skoda is facing a major economic crisis, is currently recruiting strong partners around the world, Volkswagen of Germany and Renault of France, have publicly expressed their intentions." ”

"Reform of the Czech economic system?" Li Yadong suddenly guessed: It should be similar to China's transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, and indeed any great undertaking will inevitably pay a heavy price.

The same is true in China, which is currently undergoing "price reform" and "price breakthrough" in order to transition from a planned economy to a market economy.

The first test point is the magic capital.

Magic City Stadium - the only 10,000-person gymnasium in the country at this time, it also has another role, to hold a conference, the city's congress, whenever there are full of vehicles here, nearby residents will discuss whether the price is going to rise again?

The meeting is always held around three o'clock in the afternoon, and when it is over, the major stores in the magic capital are basically closed, and the next morning, the major stores reprice.

The product can be described as one price per day.

This move caused a sharp decrease in the goods in major stores, forming a rush to buy, and after a period of time, the old demon people even figured out a rule: one catty of meat, two catties of eggs, and three catties of fish. It means that one pound of meat is equal to two pounds of eggs is equal to three pounds of fish, if you find that the meat has risen, but the eggs have not risen, you should hurry up to buy eggs.

The actual purchasing power of the renminbi is no longer in the scope of people's consideration, and everyone thinks that money is not valuable, and only commodities are valuable.

It is undoubtedly sad that a currency has lost its meaning of existence, and people have abandoned it.

The central method is good, but the means lack regulations, and the final result can be imagined.

Beginning in 1989, China's economy suffered an unprecedented "cold spring," which failed to recover for several years, indirectly leading to a nationwide "triangular debt" crisis. It was not until Comrade Xiaoping's second southern tour in 1992 injected a shot of strength into the economic market that this situation was truly broken.

"I said Comrade Deping, do you think it is possible for me to get my hands on Skoda with my strength?" Li Yadong smiled bitterly.

Is it true that Volkswagen and Renault eat dry food?

Besides, Skoda may not be able to look down on him. I haven't heard what people say: recruit powerful partners.

His little background, in front of such a giant born in 1895, can really be ashamed to mention the word "strength".

You know, it's said that a third of the Czech workforce works for Skoda, can you imagine the scale of such a situation?

"No, I'm thinking that they are claiming to recruit partners, not talking about the problem of involvement, we can try to cooperate with them, so that we can jointly develop such a huge potential market as China, why not do it?" Huang Deping explained.

It is not unreasonable for him to think so, but Li Yadong knows that the so-called "recruiting partners" is just a more euphemistic statement from Skoda, after all, it is also a big brother of the car born in the last century, and they always need some face, in fact, they must be alone, otherwise they can be acquired by Volkswagen?

Li Yadong really wants to, but to be a man, he always has to be a bit of a B number, if he wants to gnaw such a giant, his cultivation still lacks a little heat.

"What else?" Li Yadong asked, and after thinking about it, he added, "It's reliable." ”

"Lamborghini. Huang Deping said, "This is absolutely reliable, at present, only Chrysler is in contact, it is said that the price is 40 million US dollars, and there is a bit of a fixed price, we must be able to win." ”

"Big cow. Li Yadong's eyes couldn't help but light up, but soon, it dimmed.

Do you want it, naturally you want to, however...... If you want to come, you don't have any eggs.

Most people who don't understand cars have a misunderstanding: they think that the more high-end the brand, the stronger the strength.

In fact, the reality is just the opposite, the vast majority of high-end car brands are small characters.

The real Big Mac is the kind of mass car companies that focus on low-end cars, such as Ford, Volkswagen, Logo, etc.

Many high-end car brands are so small that you can't imagine it, maybe it's just a small town in Europe, with a workshop covering an area of several hundred square meters, and that's it.

And what can you do with this scale?

Produce engines, or gearboxes?

That's all a joke.

In fact, they can't produce anything, and the real core auto parts have to be customized to other large car companies.

And what they have to do is nothing more than assembly, and to put it mildly, it is made by hand.

There are countless car brands in Western countries that are very famous like Lamborghini, but their own strength is completely negligible.

If these brands are acquired by powerful automobile companies, they may still make a little profit with a little operation, but a rookie like Li Yadong who started from scratch has no effect at all.

What he wants is technology, equipment, and experience, not a high-end brand that is not useful and the market is not popular.

"PASS! ”

"No, boss, isn't this very good, it's cheap, and it's famous. ”

"You know!"

“……”

Huang Deping didn't understand the way of it, so he seemed a little stupid, and even spoke with a slight sense of grievance, "There is also the British Leyland Automobile Company, which has lost to my grandmother's family in the past few years, and is currently selling off its industry, which is strange to say, it seems that no one is willing to take over." ”

"Lelan Automobile Company?" Li Yadong thought about it with his cheeks, as if he hadn't heard of it, and couldn't help asking: "What brand does the small company have?"

"Small, no, no...... Boss, this company is not small at all, it is also a giant, and it is still a state-owned group. Its brands are in a basket, what MG, MiNi, Jaguar, Land Rover ......"

"I'll ...... Isn't that Rover?" Before Huang Deping finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Yadong and suddenly realized.

"Eh, boss, do you know this?" Huang Deping was surprised: "They do have a brand called Rover." ”

"Why didn't you say that I didn't know about Rover, why are you going around?" Li Yadong rolled his eyes, but unfortunately Huang Deping was destined to see it.

"But ......," Huang Deping said weakly: "It's called Lilan Automobile Company." ”

"Alright, alright, let's talk about their specific situation. ”

Li Yadong actually didn't understand the truth, and the reason why Rover understood it was because of the tearing war between Nanqi and SAIC, which was a lot of trouble back then, but anyone who was born in this era and paid a little attention to the automobile industry could not have heard of it.

As a result, during that time, he had nothing to do and learned about Rover, the "last survivor of the British automobile industrial revolution".

However, the beginning of the understanding began with the British aerospace to take it into the bag, and the history of its development before is unknown, after all, it is too old.

"The situation is very simple, Leyland is a state-owned enterprise, but it has been in a state of loss for more than ten years, and the British government is overwhelmed and intends to get rid of this burden, and now wants to find someone to take over. However, it seems that no company has expressed interest at the moment. ”

"Why?" Li Yadong asked, in his opinion, there are really several good brands under this group, such as MiNi, Jaguar, and Land Rover, which are all internationally renowned brands that can make him drool.

You just look at SAIC Roewe, even the Rover trademark has not been received, only with equipment and technology, it can be mixed in China in the future, if Li Yadong is not mistaken, in his last life in 2018, SAIC Roewe in the domestic brand, is also able to resist the role of the banner.

"This ...... I haven't heard the exact reason, but I guess...... I guess it's too expensive. Huang Deping replied thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid it's true. Li Yadong couldn't help nodding, he probably remembered...... It seems, probably next year, in 1989, Ford took Jaguar from British Astronautics, and the price seems to be 2.5 billion US dollars.

It's just a brand!

And how much will their entire group have to offer, God knows?

Looking at the whole world, it is estimated that there are really few companies that can swallow such a giant.

Perhaps it was for this reason that British aerospace was taken advantage of in the end.

Why do you say take advantage?

Because...... Well, let's call it Leland, because Leland is a state-owned enterprise, while Aerospace is a private company. And what is this astronaut for, just listen to the name, people don't build cars, they play with airplanes and artillery, and they also build rockets and missiles.

With a company like this, why do you think he bought Leyland?

It's obviously borrowing chickens to lay eggs.

It is difficult for Li Yadong to speculate on how much British Aerospace spent on the acquisition of Leland Company, but it is certainly not an astronomical amount, because when he knew about this company before, he paid attention to it, and it seems that at the end of the eighties, the assets were tens of billions of dollars.

How much money can it come up with to buy a company like Leyland that it doesn't even need?

Can planes and missiles be built yet?

According to normal business thinking, if a company spends money to acquire it when it is not helpful to its own business, then there must be tangible benefits in front of it.

It will definitely not reach the same price as when Ford bought Jaguar in 1989, and a single brand would dare to ask for $2.5 billion.

You know, it's the 80s!

In Li Yadong's view, Ford inevitably has some stupid money, you must know that in 2,000 years, when it took Land Rover, it spent 27 US dollars.

But in terms of time, it spans two whole eras.

Finally, in 208, Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to the Tata Group for $2.3 billion......

How can a person be stupid and have a lot of money.

What's even more bizarre is that the Land Rover Jaguar, which was killed by Ford, became a cornucopia in the hands of Ah San. As of 2018, more than 90% of the Tata Group's revenue came from the two major brands of Jaguar and Land Rover.

From the above incidents, we can roughly draw a conclusion: there is no problem with these two brands themselves, but they have not met a good Bole.