Cao Yang was very busy during this time.
However, there is one person busier than Cao Yang.
That's Ford Motor's newly appointed president and CEO, Alan Mulally.
The 61-year-old Mulally was the executive vice president of Boeing Company and the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group. He has no experience in the automotive industry.
Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford undoubtedly made a risky move by leaving the future of his company in the hands of an outsider.
But it’s no longer enough to avoid risky moves.
Ford Motor Co. lost $10.2 billion in 2006.
Even with the sales of the F150 and the cost reduction actions of gearboxes and engines, it is only US$2.5 billion less than the historical loss of US$12.7 billion.
With such a loss, Ford must do something.
As for the newly appointed leader, the so-called three things that a new official should do when he takes office.
Mulally's first step was to speak a lot of rhetoric to the media and brag about himself.
"Many people think that I am a layman in the automobile industry and do not understand the automobile business."
"But I have a lot of successful experience in designing and manufacturing a product that users like."
Many people don't believe these words and just wait to see the joke.
After all, what Mulally faces is excess production capacity, inefficient operations, strong competitors, and poor performance with an average loss of $4,300 per car sold.
However, Mulally soon discovered the problem - Ford's capabilities and resources simply could not support eight brands including Ford, Volvo, Mazda, etc.
This was the first trump card he used after taking office.
Six days after taking office, he made decisions within Ford to sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other car brands.
At the same time, Mulally was restructuring Ford internally to prepare for the launch of products that meet market demand and turn a profit.
Along with these decisions, there will definitely be some movement.
"Mr. Cao, we have heard some news that Ford is preparing to sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other brands. Among them, Aston Martin has the most decisive decision to sell, and it has already begun to contact potential buyers. "
As soon as Zeng Tingting heard the news, she reported the news to Cao Yang.
After all, regardless of whether it is true or not, Nanshan Group has contacted Ford before and wants to buy Land Rover.
Naturally, Zeng Tingting has been following up on relevant matters.
"Ford's sales in the United States in the first quarter have been surpassed by Toyota's. There is a high probability that Ford's second place in the U.S. market this year will not be maintained."
"Last year we had a historic loss of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars. Under such circumstances, it is a big mistake to still hold on to so many car brands."
"Mulally's decision is quite timely."
"However, their actions should be taken step by step, and they will not make an immediate decision to sell all brands."
Cao Yang knew very well that Ford did not sell Jaguar Land Rover until 2008, and Volvo even later.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with getting in touch in advance.
"It stands to reason that they should know that we are interested in Land Rover, but people from Ford did not take the initiative to contact us. It seems that they will not sell all brands immediately."
Zeng Tingting quickly analyzed it and agreed with Cao Yang's point of view.
Even if Ford Motor Company is really determined to sell off these miscellaneous brands, in order to obtain the maximum benefit, they will not sell them all at once.
It's like selling something. If there are too many choices, buyers will definitely be picky and picky, and it will be difficult for you to sell at a high price.
"Our Upland and Starry Sky sports cars are now sold to them. Calculating the time, the first batch of products should have been distributed through all channels. Has Ford made any moves?"
The more difficult times are, 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 carry the Xingchen Motors logo, they may have made wedding clothes for others.
"I have learned some information about this. Because Ford had a new CEO some time ago, the progress of some work has slowed down."
"Zhangwang's sales have also been affected to some extent, but they plan to hold a large-scale event in April."
"The orders Ford has placed with us have reached 3,000 vehicles per month since May."
"They are planning to conduct a crash test with large SUVs from Toyota, Honda and other car companies based on the methods we used before."
"At that time, they will work with the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) to carry out the 25% offset crash test that is most commonly encountered in actual collisions."
"At the same time, they also proactively increased investment in advertising, blurring the concept of Xingchen Motors and making people think that Xingchen Motors is a sub-brand of Ford Motor Company, just like Jaguar Land Rover."
"Combined with these marketing efforts, our sales in the U.S. should grow rapidly."
Although Ford performed very well last year, such a large company actually lost more than 10 billion US dollars.
But Zeng Tingting is still very confident in Ford's influence in the United States.
Since the product quality of the company is sufficient, and with the influence of Ford Motor Company, it is normal for it to become popular.
"We gave away so much profit and basically earned some hard-earned money."
"Under such circumstances, if Ford Motor Company is still not actively selling products, it shows that they have no sincerity in cooperation at all."
"Now it seems that after Mulally came to power, he still did not easily overturn some of the previous things."
Cao Yang wants to quickly build Yangwang into Xingchen Motors' first model with an annual production and sales of 100,000 units.
In this case, the performance of the U.S. market is important.
"I will personally fly to the United States next week to see what the actual sales situation is there."
Knowing that Cao Yang was very concerned about the sales situation in the United States, Zeng Tingting prepared to fly there herself.
At this time, showing your efforts in front of your boss is the most valuable.
As an old person in the workplace, Zeng Tingting is quite proficient in this.
While Zeng Tingting and Cao Yang were chatting about some things about Ford Motors, Geely Automobile, who also received the news, also had some ideas.
"Mr. Li, judging from the information we have received so far, the first thing Ford will sell is Aston Martin."
"Aston Martin was founded in March 1913. The first Aston Martin was launched in 1915. It was founded by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in a small car workshop in London in 1913. "
"In 1994, Aston Martin became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company."
"The thing that impresses most about Aston Martin is its identity as the 007 car. Starting from DB5, Aston Martin has always had a very close relationship with the 007 series of movies."
"In the field of racing, Aston Martin has quite good results."
"Especially at Le Mans, Aston Martin has always performed well."
“Since DBR1 won the first and second place at Le Mans in 1959, Aston Martin’s glorious history at Le Mans began to be written. From the former GT1 category to the later GTE, Aston Martin has had a very good record.”
"However, since last year, Aston Martin has been in a state of loss."
"Aston Martin has always been about elegance, it has never been about absolute performance."
"This resulted in its models being uncompetitive in the market."
“After all, if you don’t buy a sports car for performance, why not buy it for the uncomfortable sitting posture and expensive maintenance costs?”
"If you really just buy the added value of the brand, then I guess consumers will be more interested in Ferrari."
Obviously, Peng Lin doesn’t like Aston Martin very much.
However, Li Su has always revealed the idea of purchasing some high-end car brands from international automobile giants, and also specifically 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 taken action, he naturally wants to report it properly.
"Apart from Aston Martin, will they sell Volvo?"
Obviously, Li Su is most optimistic about Volvo at this time.
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 many unique things of its own.
It is absolutely possible to form a very good complementary relationship with Geely Automobile.
Li Su has full confidence in making this acquisition a successful case.
"It should be sold, but their determination to sell Volvo is probably not as determined as Aston Martin's, and the asking price will definitely be higher."
"We can keep in contact with them and see if there are any opportunities later."
Peng Lin gave a relatively pertinent suggestion.
Generally speaking, the acquisition of an automobile company involves a wide range of things, and the results cannot be achieved in a day or two.
In particular, Volvo is a representative local company. Even if Ford is to be sold, it involves many aspects.
"Well, let's keep in touch with Ford Motor Company and see how they react in time."
"Ford lost so much money last year that I believe they will move faster than we think."
Li Su is now very confident in Geely Automobile.
Geely Auto at this time is much better off than it was at the same time in history.
In fact, thanks to the sharing of Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes, the lives of independent brand car companies such as Geely, Chery, Great Wall, Changan and BYD are much better than the same period in history.
The most important thing is that the gap between reputation and joint venture car companies is not that big.
This is actually very important 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 they heard the news of Aston Martin being sold first.
"Mr. Cao, a consortium led by David Richards, chairman of Prodrös, acquired Aston Martin for 475 million pounds, or US$848 million."
"The group includes American investment banker John Hindes and two Kuwaiti companies. The formal agreement was signed yesterday."
Zeng Tingting immediately reported Ford's action to Cao Yang.
I originally thought that the negotiation to acquire a car company would last for a long time, but I didn't expect it to be so fast.
How long has it been since Ford’s new CEO took office?
This has successfully gotten rid of a burden.
"It seems that Mulally hopes to see significant improvement in his first quarterly financial report after taking office."
"But after Aston Martin was sold, they probably weren't that anxious about selling Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo."
Cao Yang put himself into Mulally's role and could quickly understand Ford's next move.
Sell a brand first to make the financial report look better.
Next, we will slowly sell other brands so that the financial report will look better year by year.
In this way, Mulally, a CEO with no experience in the automotive industry, can still have an explanation with the board of directors even if he has a firm foothold at Ford.
If we could sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and other brands in one fell swoop, our performance this year would be pretty good.
But there will be trouble next year.
You can't turn a profit in the first year after taking office, and then fall into losses again in the second year, right?
In that case, the position under Mulali's butt would be unstable.
When professional managers manage a company, they will definitely consider their own performance.
Think about it this way, Ford sold Aston Martin in 2007, Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008, and dumped its stake in Mazda, and then sold Volvo between the end of 2009 and 2010.
This operation is completely logical.
Mulally also successfully handed over a report card that looked pretty good.
I can now earn a high annual salary with peace of mind.
"After getting the news, I contacted the people at Ford again."
"Their enthusiasm has indeed declined compared to last time. It seems that they have no intention of selling Land Rover vehicles within this year."
"They should be asking potential acquirers to see how to raise the price."
Zeng Tingting gave her judgment based on the information she learned.
"I'll call Chris directly later to find out. He has now been promoted to vice president in charge of the purchasing center."
"He should also know a lot about some of the company's news."
After thinking for a while, Cao Yang made a decision.
Although according to normal historical development, Ford will package Jaguar and Land Rover and sell them together next year.
But who knows if there will be any twists and turns.
Besides, historically Tata Motors of India successfully acquired Jaguar and Land Rover, and successfully achieved profitability in the second year of the acquisition.
Among them, the contribution made by the Chinese market is also indispensable.
It's a pity that the later domestically produced models were a bit of a failure.
They launched a bunch of compact SUV models, which immediately brought down the Land Rover brand.
In addition, the 9AT supplied by ZF has never been very compatible with the Land Rover engine at the back, and various problems have emerged one after another.
In the end, Land Rover's reputation was ruined in China.
As for Jaguar…
It’s hard to put it into words, as if it has never been glorious in China.
"Cao, if you call me at this time, I guess it must be related to the sale of Aston Martin?"
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Chris laughed and joked after receiving Cao Yang's call.
Although Ford's situation is very serious, the board of directors is quite satisfied with the performance of the purchasing center in recent years.
Therefore, Chris's personal interests were not affected in any way, and he even got a promotion and a salary increase.
In this case, the mood is naturally good.
"It saves trouble to deal with smart people, and you can avoid saying a lot of meaningless words."
"Chris, this time Ford seems to be a little anxious about selling Aston Martin."
Although Cao Yang wanted to ask about Land Rover cars, it was definitely not appropriate to make a phone call and ask if Land Rover cars were for sale.
Following what Chris said, it is obviously more appropriate to talk about Aston Martin first.
"There is no way. When Mulally takes office as a new officer, he always has to take some action to explain to the board of directors."
"After selling Aston Martin, he also has more time to raise funds."
"In order to implement the recovery plan and cope with the possible large losses in the next two years, Mulally is preparing to mortgage all of Ford's assets."
Chris and Cao Yang have known each other for many years.
To a certain extent, Chris' promotion and salary increase are somewhat related to Cao Yang.
So as long as it didn't involve any particularly confidential matters, Chris was still willing to communicate with Cao Yang.
After all, the relationship between them is not just between Party A and Party B.
The company that was established before to engage in bearing trading has been operating normally.
This Chris provides a decent amount of extra income.
"Aston Martin has been sold, why not just sell Jaguar, Land Rover and Mazda shares as well."
"And Volvo, these brands are a liability to Ford."
Cao Yang asked tentatively.
"It must be sold. Ford really doesn't need that many brands."
"But if you want to sell it, you won't sell it all at once. You won't be able to get a good price that way."
"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, I'm afraid you need to offer a relatively high price to make Mulally interested."
Chris is also a smart guy.
Based on the information he had previously obtained, he probably knew the purpose of Cao Yang's call.
"I see!"
"I will also think about this matter carefully."
"But if Ford is determined to sell Land Rover, please tell me, Chris."
"Nanshan Group is still very sincere in wanting to buy Land Rover cars."
After a phone call, Cao Yang generally verified his suspicion.
Let’s take your time to see what happens next.
Aston Martin is sold anyway, is Land Rover still far behind?
(End of chapter)
