In the mid-50s of the 20th century, Lamborghini used to be the largest tractor manufacturer in Europe, and if it weren't for Ferrari's ridicule of Ferruccio, perhaps Lamborghini would still be working hard to develop agricultural machinery products. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Of course, this is pure speculation, but when Lin Johnson and Ferruccio walked out of the headquarters of the Italian agricultural manufacturer SAME, he couldn't help but think of this passage in his head.

Ferruccio was puzzled and asked, "Lin, why are you asking me to take back the trademark license of Lamborghini?" ”

Lin Qiangsheng explained to him: "Because I want to build an agricultural machinery factory in China, I have contracted 160,000 mu of arable land, and I will contract more and lower in the future, and I need a lot of agricultural machinery products, and it must be cheaper to make my own." ”

Ferruccio shrugged his shoulders and said: "Actually, SAME reached out to Lamborghini in a difficult time, when we not only lost the agricultural machinery contract in South Africa, but also had serious financial problems for both the tractor company and the sports car company, if it weren't for SAME, Lamborghini might have gone out of business or been sold to someone else." ”

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "I admit that SAME helped Lamborghini and indirectly helped me, so I could take over Lamborghini later." But now I need a Lamborghini tractor, and it would certainly be better if I could peacefully receive this trademark from them. ”

After he bought Lamborghini, he realized that Ferruccio was actually a marketing maniac, and this old man was interested in many aspects, and successively put Lamborghini trademarks on many products, such as Lamborghini tiles, Lamborghini bathtubs, Lamborghini whiskey, drinking glasses, etc.

Lamborghini is a golden sign, and naming a product can be reaped handsomely, so that Ferruccio can support his supercar company.

At that time, the old man did think of a lot of ways, but now these titles have created a little trouble for Lin Qiangsheng, and the trademark of Lamborghini Supercar also needs to be authorized by the Lamborghini family.

Ferruccio was silent for a while, then proposed: "Lin, if you can, you can buy the tractor factory, this company produces about 1,000 vehicles a year, and the benefits are still considerable." ”

Lin Qiangsheng thought for a while and said: "I haven't thought about acquiring this company, but I don't have more management talents in agricultural machinery, and European agricultural machinery brands are fiercely competitive, so I don't know what the prospect of entering this market is." ”

Ferruccio said, "I can recommend you a few people in this regard, and it's up to you to decide. ”

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Of course it's good, how much do you think it will cost to buy back this company from SAME?" ”

Ferruccio hesitated and said, "At that time, I received more than 20 million US dollars, and now it is difficult to estimate, it is better to look at the offer of SAME." ”

The Lamborghini tractor company is now small in scale, and Lin Qiangsheng thinks that if it is acquired, it can reduce the cost of parts processing in China, which is also quite competitive.

However, Lamborghini tractors belong to the Rolls-Royce of agricultural machinery, the price is high, the quality is luxurious, if the parts are produced in China, will not affect its reputation, this matter must be cautious.

So the two returned to the same company and discussed with them about the acquisition of the Lamborgy tractor factory.

Italy itself is not a big agricultural country, but it is a big producer and seller of agricultural machinery. The first brand is New Holland, part of the Fiat Group, which produces tractors and combine harvesters with a wide range of power, from 9.2 kW and 88.2 kW to 294 kW and 220 kW. The brand accounts for 15% of sales in North America and 26% in Europe. Other agricultural machinery such as balers, green forage harvesters, grape harvesters and other agricultural machinery also have a market share of 30%-40% in North America.

The SAME company contacted by Lin Qiangsheng ranks second, and it is also an internationally renowned agricultural machinery brand, producing more than 100 kinds of agricultural machinery every year, with tens of thousands of production and sales, 50% of which are used for export.

Although this country is known as a poor country in Europe, it is the second largest exporter of agricultural machinery in the world, the first being Germany. At the same time, Italy is also a major trading country of second-hand agricultural machinery, with more than 30,000 sets of second-hand agricultural machinery traded every year. Therefore, in the field of agricultural machinery, Italy can not be underestimated, just the annual import of second-hand agricultural machinery and parts from Italy is a big deal.

......

There was a light snow in the sky, and at the end of the year, Lin Qiangsheng noticed that he had been in Italy for more than 2 months, and it was mid-December.

During this period, in addition to negotiating with Kajiwa and SAME for the acquisition of motorcycles and tractors, he also supervised the design of Formula 1 cars.

In addition, during this time, he also hired managers and technical directors for the team, and signed racing drivers.

The F1 team manager and technical director must have a lot of experience and have competed in the races. Racers, on the other hand, need more talent, mature racing experience is the foundation, and they also need to be young, with a lot of energy and the desire to win. None of the requirements can be sloppy, every position is millions of dollars, and he doesn't want to waste it.

The various automobile events in Europe have become very mature, and after meeting with many agents and Ferruccio's advisers, Lin Qiangsheng finally decided to use Viennese Nikki Lauda as team manager.

In the 70s, Nikki Lauda played for Ferrari and Brabham, and in 82~84 he played for McLaren and won three championships, helping McLaren dominate the F1 world.

During a race in the late '70s, Niki Lauda suffered a heavy blow when he was trapped in a burning car for 10 minutes, which left him with large scars on his body, which made him accustomed to wearing a red sunhat to cover his eyelids and half of his face, and fortunately, the fire did not completely disfigure him.

After retiring from the sport, he founded a small airline in Austria, but serious financial problems forced him to return to racing, so he accepted a $2.3 million offer from Lin to become manager of the Eastern Star F1 team.

And Nikki Lauda also recommended his good friend Clay Regazzoni to Lin Johnson as the technical director.

Swiss driver Regazzoni entered Formula 1 in 1970 and spent a decade in the premier motorsport competition, winning five races with Williams and Ferrari. After a spinal injury in 1980 that forced Regazzoni to retire early, he went on to compete in a number of lower divisions, including the Paris-Dakar rally, before moving to work as a racing show commentator on an Italian television station.

F1 drivers rarely die well, and many racers even survive their entire careers, most of them die in the end, and this Regazzoni also died in a car accident, and I don't know if joining the East Star team can change his fate.

Both were former Brabham and Scuderia Ferrari drivers, and Clay had a good relationship with Enzo Ferrari, who complimented Nicky in front of Enzo at the time, which led to Nicky's signing for Ferrari.

This time the Dongxing team was formed, Lin Qiangsheng was a big guy again, and he was still the boss of Lamborghini, and Nicky did not forget his friendship to pull Cler, who was not very good.

The arrival of this guy made Lin Qiangsheng very satisfied, Clay also participated in the Dakara Championship, this event is very famous in China, and Dongxing will also appear in this arena in the future.

Nicky has the shrewdness of a businessman and the persistence of a racing driver, and he and Clay lead the team and believe that they will definitely give East Star a good start.

After much consideration, Lin Johnson finally signed Belgian driver Potson as the main driver for $1.5 million. He won the San Marino championship in the '85 season and competed for the Arrow team.

The Arrow team is also a young team, formed in 77, at the level of F1 middle, after Lin Qiangsheng gave a considerable transfer fee, he happily sold the Belgian.

Lin signed a co-driver, Australian Alan Jones, who won the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship in 1980 while playing for Williams.

However, in recent years, Alan Jones has not been in form, 83 years of short service in the Arrow team, 83 ~ 84 years of suspension, 85 years of return to join the newly established Haas team, become the team's main driver, but in the 86 season ended miserably.

At 40 years old, he is a veteran of the racing world, but Alan Jones is a late bloomer, only entering F1 in the 70s, and his spirit is commendable.

Lin Qiangsheng also didn't expect the Eastern Star team to be able to debut in F1, the 80s were the world of star teams such as McLaren. The focus is on participation, and his ideal expectation is that East Star's F1 car can finish the race safely, which will be considered a victory.

In addition, there was a big expense that gave him a great toothache, and that was to pay a whopping $22.8 million initiation fee to the FIA.

As a result, Dongxing Racing officially obtained the ticket to enter the F1 world, and at the same time, Dongxing Group and its subsidiaries also became sponsors of F1 races, and the figure of Chinese also appeared in the World Formula One Championship! (To be continued.) )