Surrey, England, is located southwest of London, next to the River Thames.

Newly opened in '03, the McLaren Technology Centre is located on the outskirts of a small town called Woking, where there are no high-rise buildings, only natural wilderness and shade.

Chen Bo took Lee Yun-hee with him, and the details of the acquisition were basically negotiated, and he came here to go through the final procedures.

The first glimpse of the McLaren Technology Centre tucked away at the edge of the forest was a sight to behold. The overall layout here is like a giant gossip map, with the artificial lake complementing the white factory buildings perfectly, setting the sci-fi lines and tone of the entire McLaren headquarters.

"Ron Dennis, you can call me Ron. The lady is Amanda McLaren, the head of the marketing company. A balding old man in a suit stood in front of them, flanked by a mature woman in her 40s, whose father, Bruce, was the founder of the group and a great F1 driver.

"Dr Dennis, Ms Amanda, is a great honour to be here at the McLaren Technology Centre. This sci-fi building is simply breathtaking, not only has the ideas of Eastern philosophy, but also resembles a 007-style car factory. Chen Bo responded politely, his words full of praise.

"This is the proud work of the master architect Norman Foster, and it does refer to the essence of oriental culture, and it is certainly no stranger to you." Amanda explained with a smile before leading the group on a tour.

The entire technical center covers an area of 57,000 square meters and embodies the spirit of Formula 1. In front of the main building, glass and an artificial lake are combined, reflecting the concept of yin and yang harmony. The roof can be washed automatically, as a drainage system is installed on it, which collects rainwater and injects it into the lake, regulating the indoor temperature.

The concept of energy conservation and environmental protection is quite strong, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.

From the glass curtain entrance full of technology and history, all the way to the staff cafeteria. The entrance is home to a number of historic cars that look back at the history of McLaren and its brand, and the company is imbued with the spirit of Formula 1 racing, with many historic cars: including the Austin 7, where Bruce McLaren won his first title, and the MP4, which won Hakkinen's F1 individual championship in '99.

In other words, McLaren has been away from the championship for six years, and the combination of Ferrari and Schumacher has monopolized the Constructors' Championship and Drivers' Championship in recent years.

Leaving the entrance showroom, there is a long corridor of trophies, and McLaren is the only team to win the three Grand Slams of Formula 1 World Championship, Le Mans Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500.

There is also a larger rectangular building near the Bagua McLaren Technical Centre, which is where McLaren manufactures and where McLaren cars are assembled. The McLaren Technical Centre is accessible via an underground walkway that connects the two, which also has a certain curved shape and a sense of speed.

The technical experts of the laboratory laboratory wear overalls and gloves and assemble F1 cars in the original workshop. Everything is in order, and McLaren parts are stacked neatly as if they were produced in a sterile lab, waiting for the next step. Everything in the production building is white and unstained, and Dennis does not allow exposed pipes and cables to appear everywhere.

Lee Yoon-hee had itchy hands for a while, got into a yellow McLaren F1, and took a test drive in the work park. The roar of the engine whizzed by, and the speed of the wind instantly left only the phantom of the taillights, and after a few minutes, it turned around and stopped in place.

"It's a great feeling, it's the fastest production sports car!" Lee Yoon-hee's cheeks flushed with excitement, no one could have imagined that this effeminate woman would enjoy this game of speed and passion.

"Miss Li has a lot of potential as a racing driver, and the speed of this lap is not much worse than mine." Dennis laughed and complimented, it wasn't that he was arrogant. He started his career as a racing driver, then started as a mechanic after retiring as a manipulator, and his company merged with McLaren to lead the team to great glory.

Although his physical abilities do not allow him to compete in F1 anymore, his natural racing genes will also drive his own sports car for a lap from time to time.

"Thank you for the compliment, and if I have the chance, I will definitely try my hand in the arena." Li Yunxi is not polite, although this is a dangerous sport, but Chen Bo does not stop it at all, life and death are in the sky, wealth and fortune, and it doesn't matter what to do.

After visiting the entire technology center, Chen Bo and his entourage came to the reception room for final communication, and all the people present were the heads of various companies in the group.

The McLaren Group has racing teams, technology companies, marketing companies, manufacturing companies and even a chain of "absolutely delicious" fast food restaurants, which is quite bizarre.

Of this amount, 25% is in the hands of Ron, 50% is held by the Middle East oil tycoon Bahrain Investment Fund, and 25% belongs to the Mercedes-Benz Group and some minority shareholders. That's why the official name of the team is also McLaren-Mercedes-Benz Racing!

McLaren does not produce its own engines, but is supplied by Mercedes-Benz, and although it no longer holds shares, the cooperation has not stopped, and the two sides are working on a new sports car.

"Ron, I admire McLaren's competitive spirit in motorsport and I have a great deal of affection for this unrivalled building. But now that we will soon be future colleagues, we must make a few points. Chen Bo sat down and said solemnly.

"Mr. Chan might as well be blunt, speaking out openly and honestly will help to bridge differences, which is good for all of us." Dennis made a gesture of please.

"First of all, the product line is too thin, except for F1, there is only MP4. Even if there are sizes of matryoshka dolls, McLaren's product range is not as rich as that of Ferrari and Lamborghini. ”

"Of course not, we plan to add at least two categories in the future and gradually penetrate into the civilian market." The president of the manufacturing company is Michael Hoyt, and he has a say in this.

"Well, that shows that at least McLaren is still ambitious." Chen Bo nodded, and then asked, "With all due respect, why can't you find any McLaren 4S stores in Greater China except Hong Kong Island?" ”

"I'll answer this question, mainly because of the economic base, you must know that the price of a McLaren car is as high as 600,000 euros. If you add tariffs, the minimum price is more than 1.2 million euros, which is equivalent to about 13 million yuan. Amanda explained.

"Well, there's some truth to that. But in terms of familiarity with the market, you are certainly a little weaker than me, a native Chinese. Chen Bo said noncommittally, "Although the price is unattainable for ordinary people, it does not mean that no one can afford it, the place with the highest growth rate of luxury goods is in China, don't underestimate this country, after all, the population base of 1.3 billion is there." Now they are not short of money, they lack nowhere to spend money to show their financial strength. ”

"I'll think about it." Amanda pondered for a moment and replied.

"There are two more points that I would like to focus on. F1 is a contest of skill, speed and power, and McLaren should be positioned as such. We need to take a long-term view, and a faster car is not the goal. If you can run fast without burning oil, then you can dominate the future. ”

"Don't burn oil? You mean the development of new energy?! Like the Toyota Prius? ”

"Yes, but we want to be more high-end. The Prius is just a hybrid, McLaren can develop all-electric vehicles with lithium batteries, and I don't believe you guys don't have any technical reserves. From this building, we can see the concept of environmental protection and energy saving, and we need to consider the general environment of energy conservation and environmental protection in the future manufacturing process. ”

"Yes, we do have an interest in developing electric vehicles. But at present, it is constrained by the lack of independent engines and lithium battery technology problems, and the funds cannot keep up. So only at the theoretical stage. Dennis said bluntly.

"Ron, let's be honest. Since you want to have greater development in the field of civilian automobiles, you will definitely have a conflict with Mercedes-Benz. Haven't we had enough blowouts in F1 in recent years? Although I am not a professional in racing, I know that it is extremely deadly. Chen Bo is indeed not a racing fan, but he occasionally looks at it, McLaren's engine has never been broken, and once it bursts, he can only retire.

"We can't control the engine manufacturers." Dennis said helplessly.

"No, you can still buy it. Money is not an issue, and I don't need to find a bank to pledge it, I can borrow money from other sources to McLaren. Chen Bo didn't care, if you have money, you can't buy a good engine? It is true that there are technical barriers for Huaxia, but this is a British company with a well-established industrial base.

"It would be great if we could take Cosworth, not only for Formula 1 but also for civilian cars, so that we can get rid of our dependence on Mercedes-Benz." As soon as Dennis heard that the other party could solve the financial problem, he immediately raised his eyebrows, and even changed the wording to "we".

"I have one last condition, Yoon-hee will oversee the operation of the entire company in my place, and she herself is very interested in racing. Without compromising on matters of principle, I hope she will be by your side to learn how to run a Formula 1 team. ”

"No problem, she can be my assistant for the time being, and I will retire one day."

"OK, although she is my girlfriend and one of the individual shareholders, she must also be strict, otherwise she will not be responsible for the entire company." Chen Bo wants her to really do this as a career, not just buy it for fun.

Such an expensive toy is also willing to be given by the Middle East tycoon, and he needs this company to have a good result in terms of influence and profitability.

The differences between the two sides were basically communicated, and several board members did not set up any obstacles to Chen Bo's accession, and the signing of the contract was logical. Then send the relevant documents to the UK Ministry of Commerce and the EU for approval.

The two industries that do not conflict, under the premise that they do not involve monopoly, the speed of approval is still quite fast.

(End of chapter)