"Yes, Volkswagen once sent people to the British government department, and also said that they wanted to buy mini, but the conditions proposed were far worse than ours, the acquisition funds were not as high as ours, and they were not willing to undertake the employment of the original workers, and even thought about moving the mini factory to Germany, even if the British government wanted to use Volkswagen to pressure us, it was not easy to operate." Tian Xuecheng said with a smile.

"The public should just be a lion's mouth, and the Germans are not so stupid." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said: "It seems that British car brands are still really not popular in Europe." ”

In the original history, many British car brands, but also in the late 80s began to be sold one by one, the reason for this is not clear, with Chen Zhiwen's speculation, it is estimated that a few years before the transaction, many European and American car companies and even small Japanese have been in contact with the British government, but these people are not charity, taking advantage of your illness to kill you has always been a business principle, who wants to take advantage of the British government when the automobile industry is at the lowest point, at the lowest price to buy.

There is also the possibility that in the mid-to-late 80s, the U.S. government reached an agreement with OPEC in the Middle East to suppress oil prices together to hit the economic lifeline of polar bears, which by the way let the car market recover, but also made the life of British cars a little better, after the assets become high-quality, large car companies will show a stronger desire to acquire, this is actually a normal acquisition model, in the history of human business, this kind of dare to buy a company that is about to go bankrupt is very rare, because the risk is too great, Especially the automobile company, itself is still a gold-swallowing beast, and only a golden finger like Chen Zhiwen who knows the future dares to make a move on Hutchison, who was in debt at the time.

"Some auto giants in other countries in Europe and the United States are indeed interested in some British companies, but they are all listed companies, and there are many internal factions, and the process of doing things is also long, which is not comparable to our efficiency at all, if we negotiate a deal with them, not to mention the final price and conditions, it is estimated that when the deal is completed, Prime Minister Thatcher is not necessarily in the position of British Prime Minister, and other parliamentarians are the same, just for this reason, it is very tempting to the current top level of the United Kingdom, they are all people, and they need the current political achievements." Tian Xuecheng said again.

"A good angle." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said with a smile, if you compete with European auto giants, you can't compare with yourself in too many aspects, but a sole proprietorship or an enterprise with a controlling shareholder, one advantage is that you can make a decision quickly.

Of course, these two are not the latter is definitely better, many uncertain investments may be wrong once and lose a lot if they are all in one word, and multiple votes, maybe less efficient, but maybe more to avoid risks.

"Now it depends on whether the British government is in a hurry to sell the mini, if they are not in a hurry, it will be delayed for another year or two, and we can only wait." Tian Xuecheng said helplessly.

The current situation of mini is actually more serious than the original AMC, but there is the British government behind them, and they can reach out and ask for money if they lose money.

"Since 1972, to the present, the British government has been in a fiscal deficit, inflation has lasted for more than ten years, the past two years have eased a little, but it is still more serious, plus the burden caused by high welfare, although it can still hold on, but Thatcher should want to solve this problem earlier, otherwise her reputation as a prime minister in the future will not be very good." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "A mini company, although the scale is not very large, can at least indicate a signal, now it depends on how long Thatcherken has persisted." ”

Britain's economy was at its worst peak in the 80s, which was also affected by the chaos of the 60-70s, the general strike, the oil crisis, and the continuous impact of inflation, which led to the collapse of two governments, and Thatcher also encountered unprecedented pressure after reforming the government, but she was smarter and transferred the internal contradictions to the outside, using the Falklands naval battle to temporarily unite the whole of Britain, and at the same time curry favor with the U.S. government. It also made the whole of Britain temporarily subordinate to Thatcher, and from this point of view, although the Falklands naval battle cost 6 billion pounds of military spending, it was still worth it.

Originally, the expiration of the lease in Hong Kong could also be Thatcher's glorious achievement, but unfortunately it failed, and the Falklands naval battle gradually became longer, and Thatcher began to be unable to suppress the people below, especially the trade unions, they didn't care about the country's economic problems, but just desperately organized strikes, demanding all kinds of high welfare and high treatment, and because of the previous policy, it also led to a lot of subsidies for the unemployed in the UK, which also led to too many people, not working, lying down to get subsidies.

In the original history, Thatcher was able to save this mess, even with the help of the global economic recovery in the 80s, but the personal ability is still very strong, during her tenure, almost all state-owned enterprises began to be privatized, although there are many problems in internal transactions, but she also successfully got rid of a lot of big burdens for the British government, and even in the 90s, Li Jiacheng began to invest in telecommunications business in the UK, which also benefited from the economic policies set by the Thatcher era.

And now, it is also the beginning of Thatcher's privatization of state-owned enterprises, which can be said to be almost the only opportunity for him, the opportunity to buy British car brands. Otherwise, if you wait a few more years and many European and American auto giants also recover from the economic crisis, you will have no chance.

"Yes, that's what the commissioners at Standard Chartered Bank are saying, and they're also using their connections to try to convince the British government." Tian Xuecheng said.

"What about Rolls-Royce? Is there a chance? Chen Zhiwen asked again.

"It's not going well, the state-owned enterprises behind Rolls-Royce don't seem to look down on us, and they are really not short of money, although Rolls-Royce is losing money." Tian Xuecheng said.

"Well, try to communicate a few more times, if it really doesn't work, give up, the focus is to talk to the Italian side, take over Maserati, this car, in fact, is much more important than Rolls-Royce." Chen Zhiwen didn't care too much and said.

Rolls-Royce, or Bentley, is purely a face, itself has no strategic value, it is naturally good to be acquired, it doesn't matter if it can't, the automotive industry, the real big head, or in the Volkswagen Toyota civilian model business and BBA such a high-end luxury business, too high-end, basically no market.

"Maserati's side, in fact, has little to do with the Italian government, mainly with the Argentine side, they need dollars, the offer is 80 million US dollars, we are still checking Maserati's accounts, it may take a while." Tian Xuecheng said again.

"Well, okay, the speed is already very fast, since it's almost over, you don't have to stay in Europe, now on the mainland, I have some important arrangements, tomorrow, you can go with me to Yanjing Jeep." Chen Zhiwen also said that the acquisition of a company, itself can not be so fast, goodwill acquisition, a lot of information needs to be checked, very delayed time, but can not make mistakes, otherwise you check the account and then quote, if it is because of their own problems caused by the quotation is too high, then it can only be admitted, unless the other party makes false accounts.

"Okay, I heard that Wuling's new model has been designed?" Tian Xuecheng asked with a smile. Although he is a high-level Chinese executive in the American AMC, his core mission is still in the United States, and he is now also involved in Europe, and the sales channels in the mainland and even in Asia are controlled by others.

However, he also knows that the domestic side is developing a car called "Wuling", because the domestic side has transferred people from the design team in the United States many times, and has also visited some suppliers of AMC in the United States, which are all arranged by Tian Xuecheng. And for the progress of Wuling's new models, there is also an understanding.

"Yes, this is one of the things, Wuling's car, mainly to go to the domestic market, but it is also possible to go overseas and even Europe and the United States, and we will see it later." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

In the original history, when domestic car brands began to rise, the relationship between China and the United States was not very good, and the American market began to close itself to the country, and did not accept cars from the mainland, but now the relationship between China and the United States is very good, and Yanjing Jeep is also half an American-funded enterprise, and it is normal to export to the United States in reverse.

The Wuling model, in the original history, but in Southeast Asia and other overseas regions developed well, very suitable for small-scale commercialization, but unfortunately later encountered the rise of electric vehicles, a variety of fuel-efficient and convenient advantages compared to electric trucks will not work.

It's only the 80s now, and maybe there will be a very large market potential, which is what Chen Zhiwen wants to try. It is true that you can make money by following history all the time, but it is too unfulfilling, and if you develop the best-selling industrial products in the future, you may have different achievements in many countries. Of course, the most convenient is still domestic, low-cost Wuling, which will be very convenient for many people's travel and cargo needs.

"I'd love to see the car too." Tian Xuecheng said with a smile.

The next day, Chen Zhiwen took Tian Xuecheng and a group of people from AMC, accompanied by a director Wang of Yanjing City, to the Yanjing Jeep factory.

Yanjing Jeep's gorgeous high-level executives also received at the door, the whole factory was also newly cleaned, all kinds of green plants and flowers were placed on both sides of the road, under the leadership of the director of the Jeep factory, everyone walked through the jeep production line.

"Director Qian, what is the production capacity of Yanjing Jeep a day now?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Mr. Chen, it is currently 25 cars a day, which is mainly adjusted according to the demand of domestic orders." Director Qian replied.

"In other words, it's not that there is not enough capacity?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, our production capacity is 30,000 vehicles a year, and if we work harder, 50,000 units is not a problem, and it can be a problem for domestic orders, and we can only produce so much at present." Director Qian said.

"Is it because of the price?" Chen Zhiwen asked again, obviously, Yanjing Jeep and SAIC Volkswagen are reversed, SAIC Volkswagen is seriously undercapacity, and Yanjing Jeep is limited by terminal orders and does not dare to produce at full capacity.

"There are reasons for this, many of our current parts and components have to be imported from overseas, although there are Midea factories in Shenhai City to balance foreign exchange for us, but the tax rate on parts imports is very high, and in the end, the price of our cars is still a bit high, and the current purchase of our cars, most of them are the military and some state-owned enterprises of engineering institutions, the largest purchase, the government's orders are relatively small." Director Qian replied that one of the biggest advantages of Yanjing Jeep is that there is no need to consider foreign exchange issues, because his boss's Midea factory in Shenhai City has a large amount of foreign exchange export capacity, and the data there is used in Yanjing Jeep, which means that even if Yanjing Jeep sells 30,000 vehicles a year, there is no need to worry about foreign exchange balance.

"Well, the localization of parts is indeed a big problem, although my investment fund has invested some, but it cannot be all, so we still need to continue to find suitable suppliers in China, and then cultivate or invest." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and said: "In addition, I reached an agreement with SAIC Volkswagen in Shanghai to cultivate domestic local parts companies together, and strive to reduce costs in the shortest possible time." ”

This is also regarded as the mainland government's conspiracy, your car company to my territory to do business, then you must cultivate the local industrial chain, otherwise the foreign exchange balance problem and high tariffs, enough to make the car can only look at the mainland market sighing, however, the mainland government can not think that in another ten years, the domestic foreign exchange problem will be completely solved, and many restrictions on foreign capital will be relaxed, since then, Volkswagen Toyota and other enterprises, but a large number of small parts and components have been transferred back to their own countries, using the mainland market, to increase employment in their own country.

"This is the best, but if the cost of SAIC Volkswagen also comes down, then we can be regarded as competitors, especially the government acquisition of this piece, many provinces are waiting for SAIC Volkswagen's cars." Director Qian said with some concern.

"There is no way to change this kind of market demand, we can't stop SAIC Volkswagen, so it's better to cooperate with them first." Chen Zhiwen said with a light smile that Jeep's strengths are related to passability and off-road functions, and the comfort is far behind, and domestic officials must still choose Santana if they have a choice, after all, they don't need off-road.

"Yes, I'm thinking too much." Director Qian hurriedly said.

"Director Qian, what you think is actually very right, relying on jeeps, it is impossible to compete with SAIC Volkswagen in the sedan market, so we are ready to propose to the Yanjing Municipal Government to introduce a car production line from the United States." Tian Xuecheng on the side said with a smile.

"A car production line?" Director Qian was shocked, and then he was overjoyed, which is equivalent to adding a factory.

Director Wang on the side, after hearing this, also understood, it turned out that people wanted to spread the word through themselves.

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(End of chapter)