The Industrial Giant Reborn

"Why is this?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

Thatcher said: "The Rolls-Royce brand, as I think you know Eric, a long time ago, not only made cars, but also made high-end aero engines. Although it was later split, these two companies The company currently belongs to Wicks, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defense, but Wicks is basically only responsible for investment. Rolls-Royce has strong internal autonomy, because compared to other brands, Rolls-Royce's losses are It’s probably not that serious.”

"So that's it. In other words, if I want to acquire Rolls-Royce, I have to get their own internal approval?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"Yes, actually the same may be true for Mini. Even if our government approves your acquisition request, the company should also agree to it. There is also the labor union. You have acquired American companies. I think you should be very clear about the logic here. ." Thatcher said.

"So, the government has agreed?" Chen Zhiwen asked again. Although the US acquisition also requires the government's consent, it is not a state-owned enterprise after all. The government only maintains the basic provisions of the foreign acquisition law, but the British side , but it is a state-owned enterprise, which can be said to be trading with the government.

"I can't say that I definitely agree, because this kind of thing still needs to be approved by Parliament, and I also need to think about it again, but I have no reason to stop you at the moment, as long as you can convince other people." Thatcher said.

"Thank you, Madam Prime Minister." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Being able to not stop it is actually a great help. If the government does not agree, there will be no fun.

"Is that a mini car?" On the way back, at an intersection, Chen Zhiwen pointed to a mini car in front of him on the right and said.

In today's world, British car brands can almost only be sold in the UK and are not recognized by other markets. This is also one of the important reasons for the decline of British car brands.

"It's so small, but it's suitable for driving on some small roads." Liu Xiaoli said after seeing the actual car.

When Chen Zhiwen was chatting with Prime Minister Thatcher, she remained silent. First, although she could understand some English after more than half a year of hard study, she still didn't speak fluently. Second, she also knew She shouldn't speak on this occasion.

"It is small, but because it is small, it is very suitable for women and more suitable for people who live in crowded cities. If you drive in Hong Kong, you will feel the same way. Parking is too inconvenient for a car that is too big. "Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

For people who have a parking space or don't care about paying parking fees, and the financial conditions are acceptable, then naturally the bigger the car, the better, and they pursue comfort. However, most people in this world buy cars for ordinary people. Driving in the city is the most uncomfortable. The problems are nothing more than crowded roads and difficult parking, and small cars are very convenient. This is why the sales volume of various small cars in China in later generations is very impressive.

Even Western developed countries, the United States and a few sparsely populated countries are special. Many Western European countries, Japan, and South Korea are also fond of small cars because the traffic roads are smaller and small cars are more convenient. The future economy of Southeast Asia As it develops, there will also be a need for many small cars. However, the positioning of mini may be a bit more expensive and is not suitable for areas with poor economic conditions.

The last point is naturally more fuel-efficient. This is always the king. Many people who buy Mercedes-Benz and BMW also care about fuel consumption. In a few decades, trams will be able to change lanes and overtake. An important reason for their success is fuel-saving. Regarding this, Most people are very persistent, and even some who are not short of money are more concerned about it.

"Then are you going to the factories of these companies next?" Liu Xiaoli asked.

"If you don't go, go find a bank and let them handle the connection. Run there by yourself and they won't pay attention to you." Chen Zhiwen said, "You don't have to follow me later. I'll arrange a few people to be your tour guide. It's better in the UK." It’s fun, and besides, you should take this big brother with you so that you can find someone at any time.”

Big Brother was invented in the early 1970s. After ten years of development, many big cities in the world already have wireless communication services. However, the price is relatively expensive and ordinary people cannot afford it. But for Chen Zhiwen, it is It is really convenient. You can find or be found anytime and anywhere, which saves a lot of time and cost.

Midea is also researching the field of communications, but currently it can only make switches for ordinary telephones. When it comes to wireless communications, there is no such technology, and things have to be done step by step. Later generations of Huawei also started with switches, and then It developed into a communications and mobile phone giant in later generations.

If Midea has the ability to do well, it can also take part in this field. If it is average, then it can also focus on investing in Huawei in the future and concentrate on making civilian products.

"Okay." Liu Xiaoli agreed.

The next day, Chen Zhiwen met Tian Xuecheng, the Chinese vice president of AMC in the United States, in the presidential suite of the InterContinental Hotel in London.

As a subordinate, Tian Xuecheng had naturally arrived in London early, but the boss on the first day mainly spent time with his family, so he just went to the airport to pick up the plane and left, waiting to be summoned before coming over.

"Sheng Chen, the turbine test in the United States has been successful. It has worked for more than 5,000 hours in different high and low temperature environments, sand and dust environments, and vibration environments. All types of tests have been qualified. Next, it needs to be installed in The actual car will be sent to hot and cold places for a large number of actual tests to obtain data. If successful, this product can begin to be put into small batches." Tian Xuecheng reported.

"Oh, how does that compare to today's Porsche turbines?" Chen Zhiwen asked. AMC was not the first to develop turbines. Even when Chen Zhiwen proposed this research and development project, several car companies in Europe had installed them. However, They are all first-generation products, so it remains to be seen how the quality and lifespan are.

"In terms of cost, it is much lower, and in terms of efficiency, it is also a little lower. But if the quality of our products is good, the price/performance ratio will be much higher, and it is very suitable for installation on ordinary vehicles." Tian Xuecheng replied.

"As long as it is cost-effective, as long as there is no problem in launching it on the market, then we can continue to follow iterative research and development. If this field is controlled by us, or at least we can have a certain market, it will be a strategic success for our automobile industry. ." Chen Zhiwen said very happily.

The automotive industry has existed for decades, and most of the technologies involved in traditional machinery have been basically controlled by countless giants. The only new product that can have a lot of influence is the turbine. It's not that it couldn't be researched before, but Before the 1970s, oil prices were cheap and countries did not care about environmental issues. It was meaningless to develop things like turbines. Only aircraft had to improve fuel efficiency due to weight restrictions.

The two oil crises in the 1970s caused "fuel saving" to become an issue that fuel-saving car companies must pay attention to. Turbocharging technology naturally attracted attention, but they wanted to use aircraft turbines in low-cost cars. It's not easy said than done. All giants and some large parts giants have to spend a lot of time and money on research and development. Only luxury cars such as Porsche and Opel can try it first, because high-end brands have high profits and are not interested in the high cost of turbines. So sensitive, but ordinary cars aimed at working-class people will not work. General Motors has also launched a turbine, but the effect is very average.

The importance of turbines is that they will be useful in the era of electric vehicles 40 years from now. Hybrid vehicles will be more efficient with turbines. Unless pure electric vehicles are completely popular, turbines will be eliminated. Before that, turbines will become the entire One of the most important parts in the automobile industry, second only to the three major components. If I can have a certain foundation in this field, I will at least have my own place in the automotive industry.

"We have invested US$250 million in turbine research and development. I am afraid that even those automobile giants cannot match it. We should be able to get returns," Tian Xuecheng said with a smile.

"Yes, such a big investment has finally paid off." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said with emotion.

Since traveling back to Hong Kong, Chen Zhiwen's investments have basically been using various prophetic advantages to make a fortune, such as Hong Kong real estate, Midea games, Red Bull drinks, investing in Costco, long gold and even the subsequent acquisition of Disney, etc. , these are actually developed purely by taking advantage of their own prophetic advantages.

AMC is the only investment that is the same as others. It has no advantages. It is purely a "real investment". At most, it knows the future oil prices and some future development directions of automobiles, etc., but no matter what the automobile industry says, , the foundation is still technical foundation, therefore, it still requires a lot of real investment in research and development.

The turbocharging project is the first high-tech project with large-scale investment. After nearly 4 years, the investment of 250 million US dollars has finally paid off. As long as it can be put into cars on a large scale in the future, the market feedback will know whether it will be successful or not. What are the shortcomings, and then use the profits from the market to continue iterative research and development. In the long run, you will gain a certain first-mover advantage. It is not that other giants cannot catch up, but they need greater investment, or they must avoid their own patent, and it will also occupy a certain market.

"Our turbine is not large in size. If we can acquire the mini, redesign it, and put it on the mini, both performance and fuel consumption will be greatly improved. However, no matter how smooth it is, it will still take more than three years. Time, this is the bottom line of quality and safety in the automotive industry." Tian Xuecheng said. Having come to London, he naturally knew that the boss's purpose was to acquire Mini and Rolls-Royce. In fact, the boss had informed him of this purpose a long time ago. He even sent people to obtain information on many cars in the UK. I went to check it out and then handed it over to the boss. The boss finally decided on these two brands based on the information and his own situation.

Rolls-Royce, in fact, he doesn't care. This is a luxury brand. The various hand-made technologies are not useless, but at most they will be transferred to the next-level luxury cars after they mature, such as various sports cars. The engine can be improved and placed in high-end cars such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche. It has little to do with ordinary models like AMC.

But Mini is obviously a Volkswagen type car. Although British car technology is average, a 20-year-old brand will always have a lot of accumulation, and it will definitely have a lot of complementarity with AMC.

"If it can be like this, it is indeed the best. In fact, many people also like small cars with high power." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Later generations of Volkswagen small steel guns, Nissan GTR, etc. are actually from this segmented group. Although the demand is not a lot, it is for a giant like Volkswagen. For Mini, if it can capture 30% of this market segment, it will be a big success, and the turbine can also save fuel. This is for any customer , are all very tempting.

"I have been in contact with mini's senior management before. They did not directly reject our intention to acquire, nor did they put forward conditions, but I felt that they did not seem to be very happy either." Tian Xuecheng said.

"It's better to leave acquisitions to local banks. They have their own relationships." Chen Zhiwen said nonchalantly: "It's normal to ride a donkey to find a horse. Even if you are a mini, you also want to sell to a big car company. I In fact, the same goes for Bian. If Mini cannot acquire it, I will naturally change my target."

"Then which bank should we find?" Tian Xuecheng asked.

"Standard Chartered Bank." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.