After leaving the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Lee Iacocca and George York returned to their Dodge SUV. The modified Dodge, once the partition behind the driver's seat is closed, no sound from behind can be heard, which is enough to ensure that the people behind Confidentiality of conversation.
"What do you think?" George York asked.
Lee Iacocca said: "Maybe he is interested, maybe he is not interested. All his requirements are to cooperate only if he can acquire AMC. This clearly means that he wants to use our power to help him acquire AMC, but he really After the acquisition is completed, it’s hard to say whether they will throw us aside.”
"I don't think he would do this." George York said with a smile: "Our group has already had a certain understanding of Chen Zhiwen's business methods. In addition to a few small companies he acquired in Hong Kong, other It's all a routine. First develop sales terminals, and then slowly drive your own industry. When his company was not very large, he acquired the former FEDMAERT, and then established Costco with the help of the original team. You should also know the potential of supermarkets. Later, he invested heavily in Wal-Mart and became a shareholder of Wal-Mart. Then his beverage, home appliances and trading companies all relied on these two supermarkets to start their business, and later developed to the level of global sales.
Chen Zhiwen is now entering the automobile industry. His previous advantages are useless in this field. He will definitely be interested in Chrysler's terminal retail points. "
"I hope so. Too many people are not optimistic about the future of Chrysler. I think it is difficult to raise funds. I can only rely on selling some assets. If Chen Zhiwen were an American, I would even give him the tank factory in North Carolina. ." Lee Iacocca shook his head and said.
"Haha, although that factory is not Chrysler's main business, you also know that the military's business is highly profitable, so if you can, you should keep it." George York said with a smile.
"Of course I know this, but I really have no choice, so I have to sell it." Li Iacocca said: "Actually, AMC's Jeep is still very good. When I was still at Ford, I was interested in acquiring this company. .”
"I have another idea." George York said: "Chen Zhiwen's acquisition of AMC should not be a big problem. This company actually does not have any very powerful cutting-edge technology, but military jeeps are a relatively sensitive place. This may be the reason. The most troublesome issue in this acquisition.
Chen Zhiwen also wants to use us to help him solve the problem of acquiring AMC. It is better to let Chrysler win the order for military Jeeps. "
"Doesn't that mean we need to invest in a production line?" Li Iacocca asked with a frown.
"Just a slight change will do. Chrysler now has a lot of empty production lines." George York said.
"This can be considered a method. AMC, which was acquired by the Chinese, is unlikely to be able to get orders for military jeeps. Even if it doesn't sell them, the military will replace them with other off-road vehicles." Li Iacocca nodded and asked again : "Then why didn't you say it just now?"
"When we meet for the first time, we can't say too much, otherwise it will appear that we are too demanding of each other. Let's wait until Chen Zhiwen sends people to investigate the car sales points." George York said.
"Yes, it's true that I was too impatient." Lee Iacocca nodded and said. Although he has never done financial mergers and acquisitions on Wall Street, I guarantee that Iacocca is also an elite who has been working at Ford all his life, from an ordinary salesman to the second Ford employee. Handle, he has a lot of experience in shopping malls, but it is really a Chrysler stall, which is so bad that he has to be anxious.
"Don't think too much. In a few days we will go meet some rich people from the Middle East. These people have been trying their best to buy buildings in the United States. They are definitely not short of money. It depends on whether your eloquence can convince them. ” George York continued.
"Do your best." Lee Iacocca nodded and said. In order to obtain funds, he had met with countless wealthy people or institutions from many countries this year, but only a few of them succeeded.
Shortly after Iacocca and George York left, another person came over.
"Sit." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen." The visitor said politely.
"Lao Gu, how are the negotiations with the AMC union going?" Chen Zhiwen asked. The person in front of him was named Gu Dehua, a Chinese American who had been working for General Motors and was the former vice president of General Motors in Asia.
As early as last year, that is, in 1979, when Chen Zhiwen was sure that his investment in gold futures would have a big return, he entrusted an American headhunting company to find outstanding Chinese management personnel among the three major automobile giants.
It took half a year to confirm that Gu Dehua would become Chen Zhiwen's future person in charge in the automotive field. Although the negotiations with AMC were led by Morgan Stanley, Gu Dehua was still responsible for specific technical, regulatory and other issues.
"Basically, it's almost the same. Now AMC is suffering from serious losses and won't be able to pay wages any longer. We guarantee that there will be no layoffs within two years after the acquisition. This is already much better than Renault." Gu Dehua said.
"Well, it's good to be able to be stable for two years, but this guild is really a headache." Chen Zhiwen shook his head and said.
"Actually, Europe and the United States are the same, but the media in the United States is more developed and more noisy. The unions in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are actually the same. The British automobile industry is also dying. In addition to poor quality and poor technology, the labor unions are also one of the reasons. Even if the British government nationalizes Leyland Motors, it won't work. The French automobile industry is also having a hard time. German unions are actually stronger than those in the United States. However, high-end brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi have high profit margins and can withstand unions. Pressure." Gu Dehua said with a smile.
"Yes, as long as we make automobiles, we must face labor unions." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. Nowadays, in developed European and American countries, many manufacturing industries are driven to death by labor unions. One of the reasons why European and American industries will continue to be hollowed out in the future is these unions. .
"The U.S. government is still in the process of reviewing it. There are currently no major problems with the information we submitted. Some minor issues are still being rectified and we are preparing to provide new information. In addition, AMC and the union itself agree, so basically there are no major problems. , the rest will have to wait, which may take several months." Gu Dehua said.
"A few months is not long. There is one more thing I want to discuss with you. I just met with Chrysler's Lee Iacocca." Chen Zhiwen then briefly recounted what happened in the morning.
"The current auto market in the United States is indeed very sluggish. The sales of some companies in the United States have basically halved to only half of last year's level. Life at terminal retail stores is also not easy. However, as long as the oil crisis is over, this investment will definitely not be a loss, and there are benefits With more than 300 self-operated stores in good locations, it will be much more convenient to sell AMC brand cars in the future, which can be said to make up for a serious shortcoming." Gu Dehua analyzed after listening.
In the United States, except for the stores owned by the three auto giants, most of the car sales are independently operated, and most of them are chain brands. For big brands, they can still compete with these chain brands, but For many small car companies, they have no such ability and can only be slaughtered, just like ordinary household products that want to be sold in the containers of large supermarkets.
With your own self-operated store, it cannot be said that you can be separated from others, but at least it can be relieved a lot.
"This does give me an idea. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will also acquire some other car chain stores to help AMC, but it still depends on whether you can make good cars." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
The car sales model in the United States is a mixture of various models, including the later mainland 4S store model and the car city model, that is, multiple brands are sold. When consumers come, they can choose different brands at will. The former has more commissions, while the latter A little less, but freer.
There are also new and used cars sold together. The used car market in the United States is actually larger than that of new cars. Although this field does not have a big and bright future, it will always make sense. With so much money in the United States, You always have to invest, so it’s not a bad choice to choose this industry.
Of course, limited by the antitrust laws of the United States, the scale of this investment will not be very large. After all, even the three giants of General Motors do not dare to touch this brow. They only need to invest appropriately, mainly to assist their own car brands. develop.
"That's good. It will be much more convenient in the future." Gu Dehua said, "Then I will arrange for people to investigate these Chrysler chain stores. If there is a chance, I will meet with them again to talk."
"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you. Tell me the result as soon as possible." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
He is not very clear about matters in the automobile industry. He leaves these matters to experts, but he also makes preparations. The relevant finance is independently reviewed and approved by a third party, although it also requires a million-dollar fee. The cost is high, but at least it can ensure that these professional managers will not make any big mistakes. As for the small ones, as long as they are not too excessive, they can turn a blind eye.
"Understood." Gu Dehua agreed.
(End of chapter)
