Cao Yang was very busy during this time.

However, there is one person who is busier than Cao Yang.

It's Ford Motor's new president and CEO, Alan Mulally.

The 61-year-old is a former executive vice president of Boeing and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, with no experience in the automotive industry.

Putting the company's future fate in the hands of a layman, Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford undoubtedly made a risky move.

But it is no longer possible to play without risk.

Ford lost $10.2 billion for the full year of 2006.

Even with the best-selling F150 and the cost-cutting actions of the gearbox and engine, it is only $2.5 billion less than the historical loss of 12.7 billion.

With this margin of loss, Ford must need to do something.

And the newly appointed leaders, the so-called new officials take office with three fires.

Murali's first step was to make a lot of bold statements to the media and boast about himself.

"A lot of people think I'm a layman in the automotive industry and don't understand the car business."

"But I have a lot of success in designing and manufacturing a product that users like."

Many people don't believe these words and sit back and wait to see the jokes.

After all, Murali had excess capacity, inefficient operations, formidable competitors and an average loss of $4,300 per car sold.

However, Murali soon figured out the problem - Ford's capabilities and resources simply could not support eight brands, including Ford, Volvo, Mazda, etc.

This is the first killer move he has made since taking office.

Six days after taking office, he made the decision to sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other car brands within Ford.

At the same time, Murali restructured within Ford to prepare for the launch of products that meet market demand, and to turn a profit.

With these decisions comes some movement.

"Mr. Cao, we have heard some news that Ford is ready to sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other brands, among which the decision to sell Aston Martin is the most resolute and has begun to contact potential buyers."

As soon as Zeng Tingting heard the news, she reported the movement to Cao Yang.

After all, whether it's true or not, Nanshan Group has been in contact with Ford before, wanting to buy Land Rover.

Zeng Tingting has naturally been following up on related things.

"Ford's sales in the United States in the first quarter have been surpassed by Toyota, and it is likely that the second position in the American market will not be able to be maintained this year."

"Last year, there was a historic loss of more than $10 billion, and it is a big trick to still hold so many car brands in this situation."

"Murali's decision is still relatively timely."

"However, they should take it step by step, and they won't make the decision to sell all the brands right away."

Cao Yang is well aware that Ford did not sell Jaguar Land Rover until 2008, and it was even later to sell Volvo.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with getting in touch with it early.

"It stands to reason that they should know that we are interested in Land Rover, but the people at Ford Motor did not take the initiative to contact us, and it seems that they really will not sell all the brands immediately."

Zeng Tingting quickly analyzed it and agreed with Cao Yang's point of view.

Even if Ford has really made up its mind to sell these miscellaneous brands, in order to get the maximum profit, it will not sell them together in one go.

It's like selling something, if you have too many choices, buyers will definitely pick and choose, and you will have a hard time selling at a price.

"Our Yangwang and Starry Sky Sports Cars are now handed over to them for sale, calculating the time, the first batch of products should have completed the distribution of all channels, has Ford made any moves?"

The more difficult the time, the more Ford will not give up any opportunity to make money.

Looking up is very much in line with the needs of the American auto market, and Ford has no reason to give up this cash cow.

Even if these cars are hung with the logo of Xingchen Automobile, it is possible that they have made wedding clothes for others.

"I did learn some information about this, some time ago, due to the new CEO of Ford Motor, some work progress has slowed down."

"The sales of Yangwang have also been affected to some extent, but they plan to dedicate a large event in April."

"Ford has placed orders for us to 3,000 units a month since May."

"They're going to do a crash test with large SUVs from car companies like Toyota and Honda, using the same methods we've used before."

"When the time comes, they'll be working with the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of America) to test the 25 percent of the most common bias crashes in real-world crashes."

"At the same time, they also took the initiative to increase the advertising investment of Yangwang, blurring the concept of Xingchen Automobile, making people think that Xingchen Automobile, like Jaguar Land Rover, belongs to a sub-brand of Ford Motor."

"Combined with these marketing measures, our sales in the United States should grow rapidly."

Although Ford's performance last year was very sluggish, such a large company actually lost more than 10 billion dollars.

But Zeng Tingting is still very confident in Ford's influence in the United States.

The product power is enough, and with the influence of Ford Motor, it is normal to have a fire.

"We gave away so much profit, and we basically made a little hard-earned money."

"In this case, if Ford is not actively selling Yangwang, it means that they have no sincerity in cooperating at all."

"Now it seems that after Murali came to power, he still did not easily overturn some of the previous things."

Cao Yang is thinking of quickly building Yangwang into the first model of Xingchen Automobile with an annual production and sales of 100,000 units.

In this case, the performance of the U.S. market is important.

"I'm going to fly to the United States next week to see how the actual sales are going over there."

Knowing that Cao Yang was very concerned about the sales situation in the United States, Zeng Tingting was ready to fly in person.

At this time, showing your efforts in front of your boss is the most valuable.

As an old man in the workplace, Zeng Tingting is also proficient in this.

And when Zeng Tingting and Cao Yang were chatting about some things about Ford Motor, Geely Automobile, which also got the news, also had some ideas.

"Mr. Li, judging from the news we have gotten so far, Ford Motor is the first to sell Aston Martin."

"The Aston Martin Company was founded in March 1913, and the first Aston Martin was launched in 1915 in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in a small car workshop in London."

"In 1994, Aston Martin became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company."

"And what impresses everyone the most about Aston Martin is its identity as a 007 car, and since DB5, Aston Martin has always had a very close relationship with the 007 series of movies."

"In terms of racing, Aston Martin has a pretty good track record."

'Especially at Le Mans, Aston Martin has been doing well.

"Since the 1959 DBR1 Le Mans championship and runner-up, Aston Martin's glorious history of Le Mans has been written, from the former GT1 class to the later GTE, Aston Martin has a very good record."

"However, since last year, Aston Martin has been in the red."

"Aston Martin has always been about elegance and it has never cared about absolute performance."

"This has led to a lack of competitiveness in the market for its models."

"After all, if you don't buy a sports car for performance, can't you buy it for the aggrieved sitting posture and expensive maintenance costs?"

"If you really buy the added value of the brand, then I guess consumers are more interested in Ferrari."

Obviously, Penlin doesn't think very much of Aston Martin.

However, Li Su has always revealed that in addition to buying some high-end car brands from international auto giants, he also specially asked the sales department to pay attention to the movements of various luxury brands around the world in a timely manner.

Now that Ford has made a move, he naturally wants to report it well.

"Apart from Aston Martin, do they sell Volvo?"

Obviously, at this time, Li Su is most optimistic about Volvo.

If this brand can be taken down, Geely Automobile's strength will rise to a big level.

As for Aston Martin, it still looks like a loser in the short term.

If the performance is not good, Geely Automobile will not be able to make any fundamental changes to it after the acquisition.

Unlike Volvo, it has a lot of its own unique things.

It can form a very good complementary relationship with Geely Automobile.

Li Su has full confidence that this acquisition will become a success story.

"It should be sold, but their determination to sell Volvo is probably not as determined as Aston Martin, and the asking price is definitely higher."

"We can keep in touch with them and see if there's a chance in the future."

Penlin gives a relatively pertinent piece of advice.

Buying an automobile company is normally a wide range of things, and it is not a day or two to have results.

In particular, Volvo is still a representative company in the local area, and even if Ford wants to sell, there are many things involved.

"Well, let's keep in touch with Ford and see how they react."

"Ford lost so much money last year, and I'm sure they're going to move faster than we thought."

Li Su is now very confident in Geely Automobile.

At this time, Geely Automobile was much better than the same period in history.

In fact, thanks to the sharing of Nanshan engine and Nanshan gearbox, Geely, Chery, Great Wall, Changan and BYD and other independent brand car companies have a much better life than the same period in history.

The most important thing is that the gap between word-of-mouth and joint venture car companies is not so big.

This is actually a very important thing for the long-term development of the enterprise.

However, Li Su and Cao Yang did not wait for the news of the sale of the brand they were looking forward to, but first heard the news that Aston Martin was sold.

"Mr. Cao, a consortium led by Prodrive chairman David Richards, bought Aston Martin for £475 million, or $848 million."

"The group includes American investment banker John Hinds and two CoO/Wai/Te/companies, and the formal agreement was signed yesterday."

Zeng Tingting reported Ford's action to Cao Yang as soon as possible.

I thought that the negotiations for the acquisition of a car company would last for a long time, but I didn't expect it to be so fast.

How long has Ford's new CEO been in office?

This has successfully shaken off a burden.

"It seems that Murali is very hopeful that his first quarter in office will improve significantly."

"However, after Aston Martin is sold, they are probably not so anxious about the sale of Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo."

Cao Yang put himself in the role of Murali and quickly understood what Ford was going to do.

Sell a brand first to make the earnings report look better.

Next, we will slowly sell other brands to make the financial report look better and better year by year.

In this way, Murali, a CEO with no experience in the automotive industry, can have an account with the board of directors even if he has a firm foothold in Ford Motor.

If you sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other brands in one go, this year's performance is good.

But next year will be in trouble.

You can't turn a profit in the first year after taking office, and then fall into a loss again in the second year, right?

In that case, Murali's position under his ass would be unstable.

Professional managers manage the company, and they must think about their own performance.

Think of it this way, Ford sold Aston Martin in 2007, Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008, and sold its stake in Mazda, then Volvo between the end of 2009 and 2010.

This operation is completely logical.

Murali also managed to deliver a palmares that looked pretty good.

You can get a high annual salary with peace of mind.

"After I got the news, I contacted the people at Ford again."

"Their enthusiasm has indeed decreased compared to the last time, and it seems that they should not be thinking of selling Land Rover cars this year."

"I think I'm going to hang a potential acquirer and see how to raise the price."

Zeng Tingting combined the information she learned and gave her judgment.

"I'll call Chris directly later to find out, he's now been promoted to vice president in charge of the purchasing center."

"He should know a lot about some news about the company."

After thinking for a while, Cao Yang made a decision.

Although according to normal historical development, Ford will only sell Jaguar and Land Rover together next year.

But who knows if there will be any twists and turns.

Besides, historically, it was Tianzhu's Tata Motors that successfully acquired Jaguar and Land Rover, and successfully achieved profitability in the second year of the acquisition.

Among them, the contribution of the Chinese market is also indispensable.

It's a pity that the selection of the later localized models is a bit of a failure.

A bunch of compact SUV models were created, and the Land Rover brand was lowered at once.

In addition, the 9AT supplied by ZF has not been very compatible with Land Rover's engine, and various problems have arisen one after another.

In the end, Land Rover's reputation was ruined in China.

As for Jaguar......

It's hard to say, as if it has never been brilliant in China.

"Cao, you called me at this time, I guess it must have something to do with Aston Martin being sold?"

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, after Chris received a call from Cao Yang, he laughed and joked there.

Although the situation of Ford Motor is very serious, the performance of the purchasing center in recent years has made the board of directors relatively satisfied.

So Chris's personal interests were not affected in any way, and he was even promoted and raised.

In this case, the mood is naturally good.

"Dealing with smart people is easy to do, and you can say a lot less meaningless things."

"Chris, this time Ford sells Aston Martin, and the speed seems to be a little anxious."

Although Cao Yang wants to ask about Land Rover cars, it is definitely not suitable to ask if Land Rover cars are sold as soon as he calls.

Following Chris's words, it would obviously be more appropriate to talk about Aston Martin first.

"There's no way, Murali is a new official, and he always has to make some moves to explain to the board of directors."

'After selling Aston Martin, he also had more time to raise capital.

"In order to implement the recovery plan and cope with the large losses that may occur in the next two years, Murali is ready to take out all of Ford's assets as collateral."

Chris and Cao Yang have known each other for many years.

To some extent, Chris's ability to get a promotion and raise salary has something to do with Cao Yang.

So as long as there are no particularly confidential things involved, Chris is still willing to communicate with Cao Yang.

After all, the relationship between them is not only between Party A and Party B.

The company that was established to do bearing trading has been in normal operation.

This Chris provides a lot of extra income.

"Aston Martin has all been sold, so why not just sell the shares of Jaguar, Land Rover and Mazda as well."

"And Volvo, these brands are a burden to Ford."

Cao Yang asked tentatively.

"Selling is definitely going to sell, and Ford really doesn't need so many brands."

"But if you want to sell it, you won't sell it all at once, and you won't be able to sell it at a good price."

"Besides, now that the financial situation is not so tight, the pressure to sell other brands is not so great."

"Cao, if you are really interested in Land Rover cars, then I am afraid that you need to offer a relatively high price to make Murali happy."

Chris is also a smart guy.

Combined with the information he had before, he probably knew the purpose of Cao Yang's call.

"I see!"

"I'll think about this too."

"But if Ford is determined to sell Land Rover, please tell me."

"Nanshan Group is still very sincere and wants to buy Land Rover cars."

After a phone call, Cao Yang can be regarded as verifying his conjecture.

Let's take our time to see what happens next.

Aston Martin was sold anyway, is Land Rover still far away?

(End of chapter)