"Car companies? Which one? Chrysler? Jim asked, immediately interested.

"I don't have that ability, I'm going to buy AMC." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

In later generations, the American auto giants, in addition to the electric vehicle giant Tesla born in the 21st century, are generally known as the three giants of GM, Ford and Chrysler. The U.S. auto industry has been beaten by Japanese cars since the 80s, and after a few decades, only these three giants survived.

But before the 70s, the automotive industry in the United States was very developed, and in addition to the Big Three, there were many smaller car companies.

AMC is the fourth largest automobile group in the United States, and this name is very unfamiliar to later generations, but it has a model under its umbrella, called Jeep, which everyone should know.

However, although it is the fourth in the automotive industry, the gap with the top three is far, far away, and it can even be said that from the fourth to the last place, the scale is not as good as the third Chrysler, the American automobile industry in the 70s, the scale of the top three is monopolistic, and other automobile companies are only in a small market segment to get a little bit of a small cake, or do other commercial vehicles, such as buses, trucks, etc.

AMC is a special company, it takes the route of miniaturization, fuel-saving route, before the 70s, Americans basically like large displacement cars, anyway, gasoline is cheap, but a small number of women or urban cars, small cars are still more convenient, this is the market that AMC has always existed.

“AMC？ The company's performance has also been very poor in recent years, and I have heard that AMC's shareholders are interested in selling, but Mr. Chen's identity may be a problem? Jim said with a slight frown.

"If identity isn't an issue, then I'm buying Chrysler." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile: "The scale of AMC is not very large, it has been losing money in the past few years, the efficiency is getting worse and worse, and the market share is getting lower and lower. ”

The American auto giants, before the beginning of the 70s, have a very good life, because the first is the United States, the world's largest market, the second United States is industrialized, plus more airlines, mothers, cars can also be sold all over the world, at its peak, General Motors Group sold more than 4 million vehicles a year, using up 10% of the production capacity of the American steel industry, 16% of the rubber industry, and the market value is the same as several major oil groups, ranking among the top ten in the world.

But an oil crisis, changed the life of people around the world, the shortage of oil, coupled with serious urban car exhaust environmental problems, so that the European and American governments have to begin to restrict high-displacement cars, at the same time, the Japanese cars that have been fuel-saving as the ultimate research and development goal began to sell well in the world, even in the United States, several giants of American automobiles can not bear.

The outbreak of the second oil crisis has made the US auto industry even worse, even if they persuaded the White House to restrict Japanese imported cars, but it still could not prevent Toyota from building factories in the United States, and as a result, local production also avoided tariffs, and the price of Japanese cars will be lower.

GM and Ford, the foundation is still a little stronger, even if it has been losing money in the past few years, but it can still survive, while Chrysler is not good, on the verge of bankruptcy, even the White House wants to use it to make an example of the monkey, forcing American car companies to develop new fuel-saving technologies.

But it was also Chrysler's life that should not be extinguished, and a man named Lee. Iacocca's CEO was born, and in a few years he saved Chrysler, which was about to go bankrupt, from 1979 to 1985, five years from an annual loss of $500 million to a net profit of $2 billion. A Chinese who wants to get his hands on the most powerful auto industry giant in the United States? Even if it is going to go bankrupt, it is impossible, even if it succeeds at a huge cost, and when Chrysler re-emerges in 5 years, he will definitely be unloaded and killed.

"Eric, if you are willing to immigrate to the United States, with Chrysler's current situation, you are still a little sure." Jim laughs.

"No, it's still AMC." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said, even if he becomes an American, if he buys Chrysler, there will be too many variables, Chrysler can come back to life, in fact, the U.S. government borrowed $1.5 billion plus a lot of policy assistance, he has this money, but the core factor is Li. Iacocca this person.

Chrysler also does not have any major shareholders, even if the CEO is in charge, everything is decided by the CEO, and if someone else acquires, it is hard to say whether the CEO will do it or not, but it will be so desperate to reduce costs, it is difficult to say.

A large automobile company, once there is a decline, it needs to throw a lot of money into it, hundreds of millions of dollars, for the automotive industry, is just a drop in the bucket, when the time comes, he makes money in the gold market, I don't know if it is enough to burn.

"Okay, Eric, in that case, I will first check all the information of this company, as well as the market situation, and whether there are any other companies interested in acquiring it, and when this piece of news is almost over, then I will communicate with you." Jim said.

"Okay, as soon as possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In fact, AMC's market value is not high, this car company that has been losing money for several years and itself only accounts for a small share of the US market, the market value is only a few hundred million dollars, not as good as Wharf and HK Electric, if it is a Hong Kong company, then why bother to find investment banks to help, just buy directly in the stock market.

But after all, the automobile industry is more sensitive, even if it is a small automobile company, because the automobile industry, by nature, is a super promotion of employment, not only their own employment, but also the supply industry chain and terminal sales industry chain, plus high technology, many developed countries regard this industry as the root of life, Germany, Japan, the United States, France, Italy These economies, a large extent of economic growth are from the automobile, social stability is the same, only the British empire never sets, It's too wasteful, and we can only let the auto industry die gradually.

After the 80s, the U.S. government didn't know how much effort it wasted to keep the market for its own American brand cars, but it was still robbed of a big piece of fat by Japanese brands, and high-end brands were also swallowed up by German high-end car brands.

Fortunately, the scale of AMC is really not large, even if it is a well-known jeep, in fact, it is a hobby of a small number of people, and the only trouble is that Jeep has some military orders in hand, which may be more sensitive.

However, in addition to the United States, many car brands in Europe are also very good, but it is not yet time, such as some of the most famous British brands, the United Kingdom is still implementing a large nationalization policy, and it will not begin to be sold by the British government until two or three years later.

After all, with the memory of his past life and sufficient capital, the Hong Kong real estate market, various opportunities for future reform, global electronics and the Internet are enough to become rich.

The automobile industry is the crown of human industry, and it is worth this life to be able to make some achievements in this field.

However, if you want to develop the automobile industry, you must have a large enough population and a strong enough economy, such as Europe, the United States, the mainland and Japan in the future, the first three are considered large markets, Japan is half, and with a large market, there can be enough customers to share the high research and development costs of automobiles, huge investment in production lines, etc., and the local must also have enough industrial base to form a support for the automobile industry chain.

Basically, the world's large car companies will only be born in these regions, the only exception is South Korea, its land area is not large, but fortunately, after the 90s, the economy is not bad, and it can barely form about 2 car companies, followed by the opening of the American market to it, and the rise of the Chinese market, and then Hyundai has gradually developed into the world's top ten car companies, but South Korea is also Hyundai Motor, even if it is next to Japan, there are several car giants, which is the ceiling ceiling is too low.

Therefore, if Chen Zhiwen wants to develop the automotive industry, he must look for opportunities in these large markets, and the European market is indeed not small, but now the European Union has not yet formed, the euro has not yet appeared, and many countries are still working independently, which is also one of the reasons for the decline of the British auto industry.

The Japanese market is closed, and there is no chance of it, the only thing left is the United States, and now the American automobile industry is in the stage of declining from the peak, and many companies with a little ability and technical reserves are gradually eliminated by the market.

After all, the most important thing for the United States at the moment is to stabilize employment and the economy, but to be more safe, we still need to make another plan.

In early February, under the arrangement of Henry Morgan, Chen Zhiwen went to a large museum in Los Angeles, where he "bumped into" a future heavyweight: Ronald Wilson Reagan. The 40th president of the future United States.

Many professions have served as presidents in the history of the United States: farmers, farmers, merchants, pastors, blacksmiths, doctors, lawyers, workers, tycoons, soldiers, teachers, police officers, postal clerks, tailors, and other presidents' sons.

However, Reagan is the only one in history who became the president of the United States as a Hollywood star, and when Reagan was young, he also broke out in Hollywood, starring in nearly 50 movies, but they were all movies from the 40s, so no one will watch them anymore now.

"Hello, Mr. Governor." Chen Zhiwen said politely. When Reagan ran for president, he had been governor of California for more than a decade.

"Hello Mr. Chen, it's a pleasure to meet you, and first of all, I have to thank you very much for your investment in California." Reagan smiled and said, he also knew Chen Zhiwen's name for a long time, after all, Midea's arcade games have been defeated by Silicon Valley peers, and many big electronics giants are red-eyed, and Silicon Valley is now one of the biggest kings in California, as the governor of California, he naturally knows a lot about Silicon Valley, besides, although he doesn't go to the bar because of his age and identity, the people around him often go, and he has heard of and played several Arcade games of Midea.

"Under the leadership of Mr. Governor, Silicon Valley has become the mecca of the global semiconductor industry, just like the significance of Wall Street to global finance, and in the next few years, I will invest a lot of money in Silicon Valley to carry out various scientific and technological research and development." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, this is also true, some simple things, Hong Kong can still handle them, but the complex ones can only rely on the United States, as for the future of China, he also intends to make it the birthplace of beautiful talents, but it will take a long time to cultivate.

"Mr. Chen's investment is very welcome." Reagan smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. Chen is still the majority shareholder of Apple?" ”

"Yes, I invested in Apple a few years ago when it was just launched." Chen Zhiwen nodded with a light smile and said.

Apple's development, as in history, is almost the same, or even smoother, by the time of 79 years, Apple's personal computer almost dominated the American market, and even many universities or high schools in the United States began to send orders to Apple, with sales of up to $50 million last year, although not much, but the growth trend is scary, and the number of orders in hand is also very large.

In addition, although Jobs didn't know much about technology, he knew marketing very well, and his status as a college dropout made him unwittingly touted as an entrepreneurial hero in the United States, which is the dream of countless young people. As for the technical elite Wads, basically no one knows about it except in the industry.

"If it's an ordinary investor, I would only say that they are lucky, but I know Mr. Chen, he should be discerning, right?" Reagan said with a smile, he probably knows Chen Zhiwen's situation, a person who succeeds once may be lucky, but many successes must be ability.

"Mr. Reagan is right, I still have some of my own understanding of the future development of science and technology or the economy." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said with a smile, this kind of person who has been in the political circle for decades is a human being, and he has the ability himself, at this time, he has to show his strength.

"Then what does Mr. Chen think of the current U.S. economy?" Reagan asked, and at the same time, a waiter with a wine glass came next to him, and the two of them took two more glasses of wine.

"Then I'll talk about it casually." Chen Zhiwen took a sip of red wine and said: "Fundamentally speaking, the root cause of today's economic problems in the United States and even the world is the two oil crises, the price of oil has risen from $3 to $30 now, which is a very devastating blow to the economy that relies on logistics and transportation, and oil is not only a transport dye, but also a raw material for many industries, which will inevitably cause global inflation."

Considering that it is almost impossible for oil prices to fall any further, it is necessary to consider other aspects if we want to suppress inflation. ”

In fact, the root cause of inflation is the gradual disappearance of American welfare after World War II, and it is slowly coming to an end, and the decoupling of gold and the dollar is this reason, because many European countries began to exchange gold from the United States after earning enough dollars, and eventually the United States had to decouple the dollar gold, which indirectly led to global trade entering a difficult mode, not that many people do not believe in the dollar, but many people also believe in the yen, the mark, the pound, the franc, etc., etc., too many international trade currencies, naturally affect the international trade itself.

The oil crisis is actually one of the results of the weakening of the United States, the polar bear in the north is now very strong, and the Middle Eastern countries have begun to seek their own welfare.

Of course, in the face of the future president of the United States, he naturally does not tell these "truths".

"So how can inflation be suppressed?" Reagan asked again.

"The current Federal Reserve's interest rate hike is doing the right thing, this must not stop, and even needs to increase the weight, so that the money disappears from the circulation market, but this alone is not enough, although the essence of inflation is very complex, but the surface phenomenon is that prices are too expensive, so find a way to reduce prices, such as purchasing a large number of daily necessities from Asia, where labor costs are very low, and simple goods made, such as clothes, will be much cheaper, if a large number of daily necessities are from Asia, then it can definitely suppress the current inflation in the United States." Chen Zhiwen said.

"But if you do that, a lot of jobs in the U.S. will also disappear, so what about that?" Reagan asked.

"Economically, there are many triangles that cannot exist at the same time, a country has low prices, its own production of materials, and high wages for all workers, which cannot exist at the same time." Chen Zhiwen smiled and said, "If Mr. Reagan is the owner of a fried chicken restaurant, can you make a dollar for a fried chicken and $2,000 a month for employees, and then you can still make a profit?" ”

"Of course it can't be." Reagan nodded.

"So, that's the problem, and now a lot of people think that inflation is causing a lot of jobs problems, and there is talk of opposition to imports to protect jobs throughout the United States, but the economic crisis of 1929 has confirmed that mutual blockades are absolutely not going to work." Chen Zhiwen said: "The only way is to give full play to their own strengths, in the United States, after transferring these low-end industries that are seriously loss-making and unable to make a profit, we should strive to develop high-end industries, such as automobiles, personal computers like Apple, and so on." ”

"Can the market for personal computers compare to automobiles?" Reagan asked curiously.

"From a global perspective, the market for personal computers may not be as good as cars, but for the United States, it may be higher. Now the price of personal computers is more expensive, even Apple's needs more than 2,000 US dollars, which is too high for ordinary people, but according to Moore's law, the development of the semiconductor industry, a year and a half can be doubled in technology, the cost will also drop a lot, maybe wait a few years, a computer only needs a few hundred dollars, in this way, there will be tens of millions of families in the United States can afford to buy, not to mention that Europe and Asia can buy more, this will be a market with an output value of up to 100 billion US dollars, And now the United States is still in the forefront. Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said.

In fact, the personal computer, together with its derivative electronics, software, and the future Internet, may be worth more than the car, but it is still far from the present.

"Hundreds of billions of dollars? Can there be such a big market? Reagan's eyes changed, although he knew about personal computers, and he also knew that this thing would definitely have some achievements in the future, but hundreds of billions of dollars, he still didn't expect, such a large market, if he stayed in the United States, the employment formed was probably as high as millions, which was really stronger than the declining cars in the United States.

"I think there is, what Mr. Reagan needs to do is to convince everyone in the United States that there is a future, and another point, the theoretical value of technology in the semiconductor industry is still far from it, that is, in the future, maybe every few years, the performance of personal computers will change dramatically, and when the price is not very high, normal people will be willing to replace it, and this market will continue to exist for decades." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile that before the emergence of smart phones, the global PC computer market was indeed hot for decades, and even smart phones can be regarded as a kind of "personal computer".

"I understand, Mr. Chen's words have helped me a lot, thank you very much." Reagan nodded and said, it doesn't really matter if it's really possible, as long as it is theoretically possible, then it can become the slogan of his campaign for president, and if you want to defeat Carter, who is still in the presidency, you must seize the economic card.

"You're welcome, I will have a lot of investment in the United States in the future, and the better the American economy, the better it will be for me." Chen Zhiwen hinted.

"No problem, I would very much welcome any foreign investment in the United States." Reagan nodded.

The meeting with Reagan was short, and the presidential candidates were busy, and in the days that followed, a total of $5 million was transferred to the Reagan campaign through 3,000 different U.S. accounts.

(End of chapter)