Chapter 704: Rover's Production Line

……

The next day, Guo Shouyun asked Matthew to drive up Bo Ruituo and his party in the morning.

"How's it going, how did you rest?"

"Very good!"

"That's good. Guo Shouyun nodded, "Today's weather is good, suitable for visiting." … Matthew, let's go!"

After answering the call, the car started and soon left London and headed for Birmingham, 160 kilometers away.

Birmingham, the second largest international city in the United Kingdom after London, is also the center of heavy industry in the United Kingdom, accounting for 25% of the industrial products in the United Kingdom, and it is also the center of the British automobile industry, with the title of "Detroit, England".

However, the centre of British car production is not in Birmingham, but in the city of Longbridge below. Because he had been notified a long time ago, Kevin Howard, CEO of Phoenix Group, who controlled Rover Motors, had already lined up outside the Longbridge Rover Automobile Factory with the group's senior management to greet him.

"Miss Wu, where is Mr. Guo now?"

Kevin Howard, who was restless in his heart, asked the beautiful woman next to him, who was tall and wearing a black lady's professional attire with a calm expression.

"Mr. Howard, isn't it yet the appointed time?"

"I'm just trying to make sure. ”

Looking at this middle-aged man with anxiety and sorrow in his expression, Wu Xiaojing understood his inner feelings very well. Since Phoenix Group took over Rover from BMW Group for a symbolic price of £10, it has partnered with the Tata Group to develop the new 'City Rover' model with a long-term interest-free loan of £475 million guaranteed by the latter.

But the ugly shape, and the 'urban wanderer' without British temperament, not only did not usher in the sales boom expected by the Phoenix Group, but instead made the British scolded. The investment of hundreds of millions of pounds was all wasted, and it completely buried all the confidence of Phoenix Group to save Rover.

Now, Rover Motors, which has a debt of nearly $5 billion, has a net loss of nearly 20 million pounds a month, nearly $40 million. The Phoenix Group wants to sell this mess as soon as possible, even if it doesn't cost a penny, it will be transferred.

Unfortunately, the consortium and car-making companies they recruited who were interested in Rover Motors were all frightened by its huge losses after cleaning up Rover Motors' assets. Guo Shouyun's Red Star Automobile Group is the only company that is still interested in Rover after learning about its losses.

Therefore, the Phoenix Group seems to have grasped a life-saving straw, and earnestly hopes that this rich man can collect the 'money-losing goods' of Rover Motors and liberate them from the quagmire of losses. As the CEO of Phoenix Group, Kevin Howard is especially urgent. Because the board of directors has given him a death order, if he can't solve the problem within a month, he will be rolled up and gone.

Under the threat of losing a privileged job, it is no wonder that he is so positive, even anxious.

"It's here!"

Wu Xiaojing was about to say something when she saw a familiar car at the corner of the intersection.

As four BMWs escorted the Rolls-Royce extended sedan in the middle, they slowly drove in and stopped. Kevin Howard didn't need to be greeted by Wu Xiaojing, he had already taken the initiative to greet him.

"Mr. Guo, it's a great pleasure to meet you. I'm Kevin Howard, CEO of Phoenix Group!"

As soon as Guo Shouyun got out of the car, he saw the hands stretched out in front of him. After briefly looking at the middle-aged man in front of him with a thin face, lying silkworm eyebrows, a somewhat eagle nose, and a hint of flattery in his smile, he stretched out his right hand.

"Mr. Howard, it's nice to meet you as well. But I'm a little flattered by such a glorious scene!"

"Mr. Guo is a top elite in the business world, a world-class financial genius, and everyone wants to meet you. ”

Regarding Kevin Howard's deliberate closeness, Guo Shouyun smiled and pointed to Bo Ruituo, who walked to his side.

"This is Mr. Bo Ruituo of Red Star Automobile Group. ”

"Hello, Mr. Bo Ruituo!"

"Hello!"

Bo Ruituo's expression was serious, it wasn't that he didn't want to see Kevin Howard, but he was habitually cold.

Kevin Howard didn't care either, and introduced the executives of Phoenix Group and Rover Motors to the two of them.

"I heard that Mr. Guo likes to drink tea, so I have asked people to prepare tea in the reception room. Kevin Howard said.

"Mr. Howard has a heart. But you can drink tea anytime. Time is precious, let's go to the factory first. ”

Seeing Guo Shouyun's insistence, Kevin Howard nodded.

"Mr. Guo's work-oriented style is really admirable!"

Mr. Howard praised it in seconds. … Shall we go?"

"Okay, please come with me. ”

Under the leadership of Kevin Howard, the group walked into the factory area, bypassed the office building in front, and then really entered the factory area in the back.

Since Ford began to produce cars on the assembly line, the automotive industry has truly entered the era of big industry. With the advancement of technology and the improvement of processing capacity, the automobile production line is becoming larger and more complete. Up to now, almost all large automobile companies have done it, from the steel plate to the entire process of the car off the assembly line. The entire stamping, welding, painting and final assembly workshop has also been increased to a length of nearly one kilometer.

"Mr. Guo, Rover Motors' production lines are all the most advanced. Like the 4,000-ton press you see now, it is easy to process higher quality car shells. ”

Stamping equipment is an indispensable and important equipment for industrial production, especially automobile manufacturing. Guo Shouyun wore a hard hat, looking at this big guy with a height of more than three meters and a length of more than ten meters, he easily pressed a thick steel plate into a car shell with the assistance of various computer parameters, and then was transported to the machine tool area by hoisting equipment and conveying equipment, and was cut out of the position of the car window, the position of the headlights and so on by the workers with a sharp machine tool cutter. Let people truly appreciate the beauty of industry, especially heavy industry.

Continuing along the production line, the processes of automobile production come into view.

"Mr. Guo, this is the most advanced welding robot we have introduced from ABB, Switzerland, using laser welding, its weld is more uniform than manual, the structure is stronger, and the efficiency is three times higher than that of manual work!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, looked at it for a while, and then turned around, "What do you think?"

"The welding robot of the Swiss company ABB can indeed improve the strength of car welding and improve the safety of the whole vehicle, but its price is as high as 240,000 US dollars per unit, not counting the cost of later maintenance. There is no problem with using it in Europe with higher salaries. But in Huaxia, I'm afraid it's cheaper to use labor. ”

"But the yield rate of artificial labor is not as good as that of machines, right?" Guo Shouyun said.

"Yes! Workers have different levels of welding, and they don't work as much as robots work 24 hours a day. ”

"Or use welding robots, I would rather make less money, but also to ensure product quality! Moreover, after a long time, good quality will become our company's reputation, which is a wealth that money cannot measure!"

When Japanese cars are mentioned in later generations, people will subconsciously think of fuel-saving and durable; when they think of BBA, they will subconsciously think of excellent quality and face-saving, and of course Mercedes-Benz will be messed up in the back; when they think of American cars, they are rough, horsepower, and fuel-efficient. Specific to different car companies and car series, there are also different labels. This label is the standard by which people buy a vehicle.

What Guo Shouyun hopes is that people's impression of Red Star Automobile is that it is durable, leather, excellent quality, and cost-effective. For Rover and MG are luxury cars, it goes without saying that sports cars.

It's just that this impression can't be realized in a short period of time, and it must be possible after a long period of market precipitation. However, it is necessary to establish such a corporate culture and product pursuit from all aspects at the beginning, and then deeply engrave it on the bones of every employee of Red Star Automobile.

After explaining Bo Ruituo, Guo Shouyun walked in front and continued to move forward along the production line. I quickly read the whole process.

"Mr. Howard, this is the Rover 75?"

Guo Shouyun pointed to the classic car that had just rolled off the assembly line, with a golden body, retro shape, and full of British aristocratic style.

"The Rover 75 is currently the most popular model produced by Rover Motors, and nearly 10,000 units have been sold!"

Guo Shouyun nodded, he had seen the information of the Rover 75, which was a new model developed by BMW after acquiring Rover. It adopts a 2.0 diesel engine, with sufficient power and a solid chassis, and the MacPherson independent suspension is matched with Z-shaped suspension for excellent handling performance.

So this car in the 96 years after the market performance is good, but the British again committed the old aristocracy to follow the old problem, this car on the market to the present, in addition to a few small facelifts, actually eight years have not been updated! This is simply unimaginable. In an era of rapid changes in automotive design and technology, one year without change can be outdated, let alone eight years.

After visiting this factory, Guo Shouyun was about to go next, but was stopped by Kevin Howard.

"What's the matter? Is there anything precious in this factory that can't be seen by outsiders?"

"It's not! The factory has been shut down, and apart from the production line, there is really nothing to show Mr. Guo. Kevin Howard said with an embarrassed expression.

Although he didn't want to blow up his shortcomings, Rover's embarrassment had long been known to the outside world, and it was definitely impossible to hide it.

"I see!" Guo Shouyun nodded. Rover Motors has a total of three production plants in Longbridge, Oxford and Coventry, with Longbridge mainly producing the Land Rover, Jaguar and MG series, as well as the Rover 75, after Land Rover and Jaguar were sold to Ford, only the MG and Rover 75 remain. The Oxford factory and Coventry mainly produce the Rover series, as well as Austin and City Wanderer, but apart from Rover, the latter two are only the brand, and the other has no market at all.