Chapter 031 "Jin Yuan Prince"

Regarding the Ford seller, in fact, for Xiao Chen, it is really not surprising. In the previous life, Ford sold four world-class luxury brands in five years. Aston Martin was sold back to the British, Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata in India, and Volvo was sold to the Jiangnan businessman known as the "car madman" in China at a 2% discount.

In 2007, Ford announced that it would sell its Aston Martin luxury brand for $848 million to fund Ford's restructuring in North America. The Aston Martin deal is estimated to be worth £479 million ($925 million), and Ford said it would retain its $77 million investment in the company.

When the news broke, a commentary in the British newspaper welcomed it, arguing that it marked the return of luxury automaker Aston Martin to the control of the British. Ford has sold it for 479 million pounds (about 7.163 billion yuan) to a consortium led by British entrepreneur David Richards, who is also the founder and chairman of ProDrive (based in Oxfordshire, England).

Founded in the early days of World War I and wholly owned by Ford in 1993, Aston Martin has been facing financial difficulties due to the inability to mass-produce hand-built cars. In January, Ford said Aston Martin's finances were improving, with sales in 2006 rising 50 percent to 6,500 units.

The Guardian commented that while the Aston Martin deal was only half what Ford had originally anticipated, it was still the highest price in Aston Martin's history. Aston Martin has changed hands several times, with Robert Brown buying Aston Martin Motor Company for £20,000 in 1947 and selling it in 1972. In 1981, the Greek ship king Livanos bought the company, and in 1987 sold 75% of its shares to Ford. In 1993, Aston Martin became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford. But Aston Martin's business has been underwhelming, and in the early 90s, sales of just over 50 cars a year were underway.

Ford had grouped Aston Martin with European luxury brands such as Jaguar, Landrover and Volvo to form PremierAutomotiveGroup (PAG), Ford's chief automotive group. Ford had hoped that these high-end brands of PAG would bring nearly one-third of its operating profit by 2005~2006.

However, PAG has been in the red for three of the last four years. Losses in 2005 amounted to $1.6 billion, mainly from the Jaguar brand. In 2006, PAG still failed to turn a profit. With Ford's huge loss of $12.7 billion in 2006, selling Aston Martin to solve the urgent need became Ford's helpless choice.

At the time, it was widely believed that the sale of Aston Martin was only part of Ford's revitalization plan, and that the next step was to sell the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, given Ford's strong need for capital. At that time, it may be able to dispose of the two brands in a package because they use the same core technology.

If Jaguar and Land Rover are sold, PAG will be able to reduce losses and raise a significant amount of cash for Ford to restructure its loss-making North American operations. At the same time, it is also likely that Ford will abandon its previous plan to develop PAG into a luxury brand on a par with BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

When Jaguar Land Rover was acquired by India's Tata Group in June 2008, the deal was not optimistic. But it took more than a year for the Tata Group to prove that Jaguar Land Rover did not slip because of this.

In June 2008, Tata bought the two premium car brands from Ford for $2.3 billion, a deal that has been frowned upon. But the third-quarter earnings report is the best note for the success of the acquisition. Tata's consolidated net profit in the third quarter was Rs.65 crore (US$141 million), compared with a loss of Rs.2,599 crore in the same period of FY2008, and consolidated net sales were Rs.259.8 billion, up 48 per cent year-on-year. Among them, Jaguar Land Rover's net profit was Rs.416 crore.

One analyst lamented that "Jaguar Land Rover has ushered in a major transformation".

In an interview, Di Sihao, general manager of Land Rover China, said that as we all know, Land Rover is the world's top luxury all-terrain SUV manufacturer. Today, Huaxia is Land Rover's fastest-growing market in the world and is now Land Rover's third largest market in the world. "In the first quarter of this year, Land Rover set a new sales record in China, where sales in the first quarter increased by almost 200% year-on-year. In terms of the number of orders, the number of inquiries and the flow of people at the point of sale, it has exceeded the highest level in history. Dishao said.

According to reports, Land Rover sold more than 5,300 cars in China in the first quarter, of which Beijing accounted for 10%. The sales company, which has been planned for last year, will be officially launched in the middle of this year, and the distribution network will increase from the current 45 to more than 90 in the next one to two years. In 2009, Land Rover also introduced diesel engines to the Chinese market.

In 2008, Land Rover unveiled the LRX concept at the Beijing Motor Show. The concept car later became the blueprint for a new compact Land Rover. According to Dishao, Land Rover will unveil the production version of the car at the end of this year and sell the model in 2011. It will be the lightest and most fuel-efficient model in Land Rover's history.

Land Rover is out of the way, and Jaguar is not far behind. 20 fourth, after Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. "In 2009, Jaguar's sales in China grew by 34%, and in March this year, Jaguar set a record high for monthly sales since entering China, with a year-on-year increase of 70% in the first quarter, setting a new record for Jaguar's quarterly sales. ”

At the Beijing Motor Show, Jaguar not only brought the new Jaguar XKR, XFR and the new Jaguar XJ, but also the first Jaguar car SS was unveiled in front of the Chinese public for the first time. Rydev said that Jaguar's sales growth in China in the next two years will far exceed that of last year.

In addition to the breakthrough in sales, Jaguar has always been committed to further improving the extensive customer service system composed of authorized dealers in Huaxia, and in 2010, Jaguar had 37 dealer outlets in Huaxia, and Jaguar will continue to expand the dealer network. Jaguar is also the first luxury imported car in China to promise a free warranty of "3 years or 100,000 kilometers", and has launched an emergency roadside assistance service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If the British bought back Aston Martin and the Indian bought Jaguar Land Rover is still a little far away from China, then Volvo's "marriage" made many Chinese people feel excited, and Xiao Chen was also one of them at that time.

"Through the acquisition of internationally renowned brands with profound technical accumulation, Ming Media is getting a good background and completely changing the bad image of Huaxia's own brand cars starting overseas by relying on 'imitation shows' and 'copycat versions'. With the technical origin of the red seedlings, we will go to the world in a dignified manner. ”

By October 2010, Geely's acquisition of Volvo was no longer rumor, but a deal that was in full swing and on track.

Previously, on October 28, Ford Motor announced that it had appointed Jiangnan Geely Holding Group. ) as the preferred bidder for its Swedish car brand Volvo. Volvo immediately welcomed Ford's decision.

An hour later, Geely responded positively. In the company's statement, Geely Chairman Li Shufu said: "We are pleased to see the progress of our negotiations with Ford. If a final agreement is reached, Geely will maintain and strengthen Volvo's legacy as a world-class brand and continue to build on the top brand's global reputation for safety and environmental technology. ”

In fact, for more than half a year, the two sides have held many consultations.

This follows rumours of tensions in the negotiations between the two sides over how to deal with certain intellectual property in the sale transaction. Judging from the subsequent public statements and statements made by the relevant parties, the two sides have eliminated the relevant differences in principle, and Ford and Geely are in exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of Volvo. Li Shufu called it a "strategically significant step." A senior Xinhua correspondent wrote that the statement "solidified the object of the negotiations and solidified the results of the negotiations".

An authoritative source in the automobile industry said that although there are still uncertainties, if this transaction can be finally reached, it will be another milestone in the history of the development of China's automobile industry. Hit by the once-in-a-century international financial crisis, the global auto industry is in the deepest recession in history, and Huaxia Automobile has the opportunity to participate in the global industrial restructuring. On November 7, Li Shufu said: "This is a strategic opportunity for Huaxia automobile enterprises. What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! ”

As early as March this year, after the news of Geely's acquisition of Volvo by overseas media, various rumors, speculations and doubts have never stopped. What is quite puzzling is that for this cross-border acquisition transaction, public opinion at home and abroad is obviously in stark contrast with "cold inside and hot outside".

Some domestic media first habitually speculated that Geely's acquisition was purely "show" and "hype", and then questioned "Where does Geely's money come from?" "Ford is not doing well, can Geely have a good time? There are even speculators who assert that "Volvo's high cost will bring down Geely" and "Geely's low-end brand image will ruin Volvo".

According to the analysis at that time, the final purchase price that the two parties may reach is 1.5 billion ~ 2 billion US dollars. Geely Automobile, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Geely Holdings, has a total market value of only US$500 million and a net profit of 879 million yuan last year. In fact, based on the closing price of HK$2.90 per share on November 6, Geely Automobile's total market capitalization reached HK$21.135 billion, or about US$2.727 billion.

A little more than a month earlier, Geely Automobile had received about $250 million in investment from a Goldman Sachs SĪ fund. A person familiar with the inside situation made it clear: "There is no problem with Geely's acquisition funds. Moreover, as long as overseas mergers and acquisitions are in line with the national industrial policy, the Export-Import Bank of China can also provide financial support. ”

In the midst of widespread doubts, an expert from the Huaxia Society of Automotive Engineers said: "If India's Tata can buy Jaguar and Land Rover, why can't Huaxia Geely buy Volvo?" If nothing else, Geely's courage and determination to take this step are worthy of recognition. ”

More importantly, as parties and stakeholders, Ford and Sweden have expressed sufficient respect and high-profile affirmation of Geely's sincerity and ability to acquire Geely.

Ford's Chief Financial Officer, Leisbooth, said in a statement that Ford believes Geely is capable of being the responsible owner of Volvo in the future, driving the business forward while maintaining the Swedish brand's core values and independence.

According to overseas media reports, after the two sides made a statement, Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Business and Energy Maudolofsson said at a press conference in Stockholm that Sweden welcomed the decision of the two sides, "The idea is to find a buyer with funds and long-term intentions." There is strong demand in the Huaxia market, and the future owners of Volvo need to come from this important market." "The Swedish government will consider providing Volvo with an EIB loan guarantee."

Previously, the Volvo Engineers' Union expressed concern about the possible fate of the takeover. Volvo had 21,000 employees at the end of June this year, with more than 3,000 layoffs last year.

In response, Geely has made a clear commitment that Volvo's current factories, R&D centers, union agreements and dealer network will be retained. The future Volvo will be led by an independent management team and will remain headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Geely's bid was backed by Chinese banks. Geely also pledged to strengthen Volvo's sales network and sourcing opportunities in the fast-growing Chinese market.

The statement was clearly carefully worded, professional, rigorous and concise. In addition to the details of the transaction negotiations, Geely clearly answered all the core questions that all walks of life were concerned about, such as how to integrate operations after the acquisition and how to restore Volvo's profitability.

Overseas media commented, "Geely has taken an important step in realizing its most ambitious global expansion plan to date." ”

Goran Johansson, former mayor of Gothenburg and member of the Social Democratic Party, said: "I think this is the best thing that has happened to Volvo at the moment. Huaxia needed Volvo's knowledge, so I think the deal will go very well. ”

Since Geely's decision to buy Volvo, Li Shufu has two metaphors that have often been on his lips: "Rural youth love international stars." Write short essays in red sentences and finally strive to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The previous sentence can be directly interpreted as Volvo worth buying. The explanation of the latter sentence is that it is very necessary for Geely to acquire Volvo.

In order to enhance the Geely brand, Li Shufu has planned the largest strategic transformation in history since 2007. Geely's transformation has begun to bear fruit, becoming the most innovative automotive company. If the former sentence expresses Li Shufu's strategic ambitions, then the latter reveals his strategic path.

With world-class brands, industry-leading safety technology, rich technology and intellectual property accumulation, and a global marketing network, Volvo's yòuhuò is so powerful that any company with strategic ambitions can not resist it, except for huge losses. This is a great opportunity for Geely to be reborn and expand globally.

The acquisition of Volvo is an important way for independent brands to accelerate their global expansion.

It is said that Ford bought Volvo for $6.45 billion, and then invested billions of dollars, plus the previous accumulation, Volvo has formed a rich technical accumulation of more than $10 billion. In fact, patented technology is one thing, European and American companies have at least 70% of the non-patented technical knowledge, as well as the silent knowledge attached to high-quality employees. And these are often their core competencies to maintain product quality and competitiveness.

Volvo's weakness was its lack of profitability, as high operating costs led to a decline in sales. Geely's core competence lies in its industry-leading cost control capabilities and unique and deep understanding of the Huaxia automobile market. It is reported that Geely's strategic arrangement for the future operation of Volvo is very clear, with the headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden carrying out global manufacturing and marketing, and building a new Volvo base in China to build good cars and sell them at low prices.

One of the foundations of successful M&A is the complementarity of assets and resources. At that time, Mr. Zhang, deputy director of the Enterprise Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the Government Council, analyzed that through the acquisition, Huafang enterprises could improve their own brand and technology, and improve their management and operation levels; Foreign parties can also take advantage of this to enter the Chinese market and enjoy the cake of China's economic growth and market expansion, and the two aspects complement each other.

The decline of European and American companies such as GM shows that the future of the global automotive industry lies in being good and cheap. And Li Shufu's Geely model grafting Volvo's advantages is undoubtedly a feasible path. Both risks and opportunities lie in the integration of industrial chain resources.

The 10 million car rolled off the assembly line, and the relevant departments finally made up for the grand celebration that was ready last year. It's certainly a memorable number, but the excitement on his face can't hide the embarrassment inside: where did the technology come from? How high is the autonomy content?

CCTV financial commentator analysis: "In the past ten years, Huaxia automobile industry has taken a road of 'market for technology', and the market has been carved up by foreign car brands at the same time, the technology in exchange has never been on the table." We have only shared a small part of the benefits of the automotive industry. The policy suggestion he gave was to support the development of private automobile enterprises from the national strategic level.

At the ceremony of 10 million vehicles, the vice minister in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology put forward three signs of automobile power: world-renowned world enterprises and brands with international competitiveness; It is necessary to learn to use two kinds of resources, open up two markets, and occupy a certain share in the international market; It is necessary to grasp the development trend of core technology and new technology. However, there is only one principle premise, innovation and autonomy.

Indeed, in the process of its development, especially in the pattern of participating in the world automobile competition, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments have played a major role in promoting, promoting and guiding. In particular, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant departments and persons in charge of the automobile industry and related core components are working hard to actively cultivate, support independent innovation, and support enterprises to "go global" to develop and expand themselves.

In the middle of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) held an unprecedented experience exchange meeting on independent innovation for a private enterprise, which is Geely Group. These experiences come from the lessons of Geely and even the industry that "as soon as you go out, you will be beaten".

"Huaxia's auto industry needs dignity." Li Shufu said: "On a deeper level, Geely's acquisition of internationally renowned brands with profound technical accumulation has allowed Ming Media to get a good background and completely change the bad image of Huaxia's own brand cars that started overseas by relying on 'imitation shows' and 'copycat versions'." With the technical origin of the roots, the products not only enter the third world, but also go to the broader world in a dignified manner. ”

One professor said: "Autonomy requires multifaceted efforts. What enterprises need to do is to accumulate endogenous technical capabilities through independent learning and innovation, and the top priority lies in the political aspect, how to improve industrial planning and even industrial administrative capabilities. ”

In today's world, there are few industries like the automobile industry, which is not only a perpetual motion machine for creating national wealth, but also a guarantee for a country's independence. Before Huaxia tried to grow into an automobile powerhouse, the United States, Japan, Germany, France, and even South Korea and India created experience from the front, and Mexico, Brazil, and Canada verified the lessons from the negative.

From this point of view, the far-reaching significance of Geely's acquisition of Volvo has gone far beyond the transaction itself.

Because of this idea, Xiao Chen was not interested in Chrysler itself, and he sighed deliberately: "It's a pity that Chrysler is still American after all, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo...... It's all American, too. ”

Qin Qin didn't know Xiao Chen's thoughts, she snorted: "Don't come to this set, you have a little crooked brain, and you still want to hide it from me?" Don't worry, I didn't really buy Chrysler to run the car, I said I bought it for you...... If I want to make money, there are more places where I can invest, cars have long been a sunset industry in the United States, I am a technology stock and go to play with cars, am I crazy? I've thought about it for you, your 'sisters', you choose one of them, set up a car company, and then in a year or two, start a joint venture with Chrysler under my name, and in a few years, I'll find some brands with scientific research strength under Chrysler to sell to you from scratch, and play a golden cicada shell, so you are satisfied, right? Oh, you can also use Chrysler to train the automotive talents you need, I am the most broad-minded person, I don't mind Chrysler tirelessly teaching people and teaching some Chinese students. ”

Xiao Chen clenched his fist hard, silently made a victory celebration, and then thanked: "Auntie, thank you." ”

"Do you really want to thank me?" Qin Qin grinned: "It's okay, if you want to thank you, come to the United States, I don't like to run to China." ”

Xiao Chen smiled: "Okay, Yù Ling is about to give birth, when the time comes, I will bring Yù Ling and the child over to see you." ”

Qin Qin's side was immediately overjoyed: "Okay, from the birth of the child to being able to come by plane, it is estimated that ...... Well, I'll give Chrysler to him as a birth gift! ”

Xiao Chen almost didn't drop his phone, and hurriedly said, "Don't don't, I'll talk about this later." ”

The aunt was dissatisfied: "Why, I know that you won't want my family property, but you still have to nòng to have no one to inherit the family property after my death, right?" ”

Xiao Chen was stunned and scratched his head: "This, the little guy's future path, I have to ask grandpa." ”

"Come less, ask your old man, then he must be a proletariat, I don't agree, I don't care so much, or you will have a few more children, and find the most business-minded one to inherit."

Xiao Chen smiled bitterly: "This matter ...... Say it again, ah. ”

The aunt suddenly realized, and said: "Yes, I really forgot about this stubble, or it will be decided like this, your 'little sisters' can't just be alone for a lifetime, right?" Let them get pregnant, I'll pick one when the time comes, or I can give them my property, now I have so many companies at hand, enough for them to share. ”

Xiao Chen said helplessly: "Can we say something else...... I regret mentioning the child. ”

Qin Qin laughed: "Then what do you say?" That's a big deal. ”

Xiao Chen suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, auntie, you say, is it possible for us to buy Audi?" ”

The aunt was slightly stunned: "Audi? This one...... It's a little difficult to do, Audi is owned by Volkswagen, Volkswagen benefits are good, and as a high-end subsidiary of Volkswagen, Audi has been in a profitable state in recent years, and it has been in a profitable state. When the aunt said this, she suddenly paused, and then asked, "What, you are very optimistic about Audi?" ”

Xiao Chen snorted: "Although Audi is still slightly behind Mercedes-Benz BMW in the short term, in terms of brand value, this gap will not be too big, and it will get closer and closer, and in terms of profitability and innovation, I feel that Audi will be more prosperous 'double B', although Audi is also profitable now, but in my opinion, it has not yet reached its peak." ”

Of course, the current Audi has not yet appeared in a family-style big mouth, and the peak has certainly not been reached.

"Really? I don't feel it, but the key point of Audi is that you Huaxia Zhengfǔ love to use it, and as a result, it has driven the preference for Huaxia sī cars, so it is especially like a fish in water in Huaxia now...... But seriously, after we plan that car company to come out in the future, you can use Aston Martin, Jaguar or Volvo to replace Audi, I think with the power of your Xiao family, a little influence, Audi's share of political cars will have to give up more than half. ”

When Xiao Chen heard this, of course he agreed, but what he was optimistic about Audi was not only Huaxia's preference for using cars, but Audi's innovation ability, and one more thing......

"By the way, Auntie, let's just buy Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, and don't buy Volvo for the time being." Xiao Chen said.

"Why? Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover are all losing money now, but Volvo is still slightly profitable. Qin Qinqi said.

Xiao Chen naturally couldn't say that he wanted to keep Volvo for a few years, and when Li Shufu went to copy the bottom in the future, he had to say: "It is precisely because it is still profitable, Ford will definitely not sell it cheaply, we may not be cost-effective to buy it, besides, there are three luxury brands, plus Chrysler itself is also a luxury brand, we have enough luxury cards in our hands, not a short Volvo, this money can be saved to deal with other possible troubles, such as turning losses into profits in the early stage, you also need money, right?" ”

Although Qin Qin felt that she was not short of "this money", since Xiao Chen said so, she did this for Xiao Chen, so she naturally agreed: "Then it's up to you, you think it's enough." ”——

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