章節 747: Chapter 747: Packed four supercar companies
After returning, Xia Yu, in a great mood, spent the whole day with Elena exploring London, and they didn't go back until nightfall.
That day, Tower Bridge, Greenwich Observatory, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey and other places in London were filled with the laughter of Xia Yu and Elena.
Their carefree laughter and sightseeing made their relationship grow closer.
But happy times are always short-lived. Early the next morning, Xia Yu once again went to the Bright Foundation and found George Berkeley, who had something he wanted him to take care of.
This matter was very important and concerned his layout in the automotive field, as well as the resolution of the issue Margaret Thatcher had mentioned yesterday regarding Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' suspected monopoly.
The office of the owner of the Bright Foundation.
Xia Yu called George Berkeley, who had been busy with the acquisition of the two banks.
Looking at George Berkeley, who was waiting for him to give orders, Xia Yu said with a solemn expression, 'George, I have one thing I need you to do. You arrange for the right people to form an acquisition team and give me Aston Martin, McLaren and Lotus Cars.
Good guy, Xia Yu didn't say anything, but as soon as he spoke, George Berkeley was stunned.
He blinked his eyes and noticed that Xia Yu's expression was serious, not at all like he was joking.
He hesitated for a moment and said tactfully, 'Boss, we are currently acquiring the Leland Motors Group, and if we were to acquire the Aston Martin, McLaren and Lotus car factories as well, then we would most likely face an antitrust investigation.'
In fact, it is not very likely, but it is an absolute certainty, it's just a matter of time.
Once you offend someone, this is an extremely obvious handle, laid out on the surface for anyone to move.
Xia Yu smiled, knowing that George Berkeley had misunderstood and that it was his fault for not expressing himself clearly.
He said with a smile, 'George, I only commissioned the Bright Foundation to acquire them on my behalf. After the acquisition of these three car factories, they will not be merged into Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, but will be transferred to the ownership of another car company that you have never heard of, called Tiangong Motors Group.'
Yes, Xia Yu intended to wipe out the British automotive industry!
A wise man never puts all his eggs in one basket.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will certainly have a bright future once it has merged with Leland Motors Group.
But as Margaret Thatcher once said, there is a suspicion of monopoly.
Especially under his golden fingers, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars will get better and better, and by then it will occupy an ever-larger market share. At that time, the suspicion of monopoly will be even greater and more envious.
The anti-monopoly stick has always been a weapon commonly used by robbers, and Xia Yu knows this very well.
In the previous life, no matter how powerful Microsoft was, the crocodiles on Wall Street were jealous. Bill Gates just didn't want to give up any of his company, so the crocodiles on Wall Street seized the opportunity and directly used the anti-monopoly stick. In the end, Bill Gates gave in.
An even earlier example is the original world oil giant Standard Oil. At that time, although the Rockefeller family was already the top family in the United States, there were many other equally or slightly more powerful tycoons. Under joint attack, the Rockefeller family was unable to defend itself, and Standard Oil was dismembered into 37 oil companies.
That said, it would be extremely difficult for Aston Martin, McLaren and Lotus to rise to prominence on their own, with the likes of Rolls-Royce and other international automotive giants vying for the limelight.
Of these car manufacturers, one is still very small, and two are mired in the quagmire of losses, and will have a similarly unfortunate future.
Lotus Cars, for example, was bought by General Motors in 1986, and then sold again in 1993 for 30 million pounds. In 1996, it was sold to Malaysia's Proton Cars.
What about Aston Martin? It was also bought by Ford in 1987.
As for McLaren, although it was not acquired, it is also the youngest, having been established in 1966, just 14 years ago. At this time, it had already made a name for itself in Formula One racing and sports cars, but had not yet entered the mass production stage, and its revenue was worrying.
So in order to solve the antitrust problem with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the best way was to create a threatening rival for it.
It is impossible to expect them to be self-reliant, so he had to take matters into his own hands and acquire these car manufacturers himself, and give them a kickstart to make them rise explosively.
Putting them under the name of Tiangong Motors Group, although in reality it was all him behind the scenes, it sounded plausible on the surface, so there was no problem.
Besides, there was also a very important reason for Tiangong Motors Group to acquire these car manufacturers.
That is, Tiangong Automobile Group needs high-precision and sophisticated automobile manufacturing technology!
Forget about the automobile factory in Indonesia, the little devils themselves don't have much technology, and what they do have is outdated technology.
If Tiangong Automobile Group wants to take off, technology is the key. Without technology, it will be difficult to do business in the mainland in the future, let alone compete for business in the world!
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is destined to never move out of the UK, and the only one that can take root in the mainland is Tiangong Automobile Group.
Therefore, Tiangong Automobile Group's technical shortcomings must be made up for.
After all, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is not solely owned by Xia Yu, and the technology cannot be handed over to Tiangong Automobile Group. The latter can only find its own way to accumulate it.
As we all know, the best automotive manufacturing technology has always been in supercar companies. Sports cars have the highest technical content and use the latest and most cutting-edge technology.
Needless to say, McLaren was founded by top racing driver Bruce McLaren, specialising in Formula One racing and also manufacturing supercars. The McLaren F1 sports car produced by the company in 1990 can accelerate from a standstill to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds, with a top speed of over 386km/h! This record has been maintained for 15 years!
So you can imagine the potential of McLaren's technology research and development!
Aston Martin, known as the Rolls-Royce of sports cars, was also founded by a racing driver. The company operates racing cars, supercars and convertible station wagons, and its technology is beyond doubt. In the future, it was wholly acquired by Ford and provided Ford with a lot of technology.
Lotus Cars is also a world-famous manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars. The Lotus team is still active in Formula One (F1) racing.
These three companies are all manufacturers of supercars and racing cars, each with unique technology. If they are acquired, all the technology will be absorbed by Tiangong Automobile Group, which will accumulate a solid technical foundation for the group.
After that, it will be much easier to manufacture commercial vehicles!
Not to mention the brand value of these three supercar companies. Acquiring them now is definitely a sure-fire investment!
In 1993, Lotus, which was losing money, was sold at a bargain price of 3,500 pounds by General Motors. At current prices, it would be worth a maximum of 15 million pounds. It was a steal!
...
Hearing Xia Yu's explanation, George Berkeley let out a sigh of relief. It was good that the boss hadn't lost his mind.
As for the suddenly-emerged Tiangong Automobile Group, he wasn't interested either. Whether the British automotive industry was swallowed up by an outsider like the boss, George Berkeley simply didn't care.
He nodded and said, 'Boss, I will immediately form a team to acquire these three car factories.'
Xia Yu smiled and said, "Well, work hard!'
George Berkeley just wanted to say that it was fine and he would leave first, but suddenly a flash of inspiration came to him.
It seemed that the boss had a special fondness for the automotive industry, and this news should interest the boss!
His eyes brightened slightly, and he said to Xia Yu, "Boss, I have some news here. I'm not sure if you're interested.'
Xia Yu's eyebrows rose, and a trace of curiosity rose in his heart. He asked, 'What news? Tell me!'
George Berkeley said, 'It's about the Italian Lamborghini car company. I've heard that Lamborghini is now in bankruptcy, and I don't think it can avoid this time.'
He was also interested in the automotive industry, so his subordinates also paid relatively close attention to information in this field. It so happened that a few days ago, a subordinate mentioned this news to him.
At this moment, he saw that his boss was planning to buy a British car company, and he finally remembered this incident.
Lamborghini?
Xia Yu was a little surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he remembered that Lamborghini had actually gone bankrupt in the 1980s, and had changed hands many times since then.
Xia Yu asked, 'George, do you know why Lamborghini is about to go bankrupt?'
George Berkeley immediately got up and said, 'Boss, just a moment, I have a report from my office here. I'll bring it to you.'
'Go ahead!'
A moment later, George Berkeley returned and gave Xia Yu the report that had been assigned to him a few days ago.
After reading it, Xia Yu finally understood the detailed reasons.
In later generations, the "two kings and one queen" of the Italian automotive industry were very well-known: Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati.
However, in those days, Ferrari was at the height of its fame, while Lamborghini and Maserati were not yet famous.
Lamborghini was founded in 1963, only seventeen years ago, which is still considered to be underage in human terms, and it is no match for those century-old car companies.
Moreover, Lamborghini's designers have a unique way of thinking, and the models they design are simply subversive, and are jokingly referred to by consumers as 'monsters'.
Therefore, Lamborghini's sales of each difficult-to-launch model have been poor.
The founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini, kept asking for financial support to keep Automobili Lamborghini afloat.
But every time, he failed to get any results, and the investors' money was not just wasted. Ferruccio Lamborghini could no longer borrow any money.
The development of new models came to a standstill, and the long-buried bomb finally ignited its fuse.
Automobili Lamborghini was on the verge of bankruptcy.
If no financial support could be found, the situation would only worsen with each passing day. Now that Ferruccio Lamborghini was at his wit's end, the media had already concluded that Automobili Lamborghini was on the verge of bankruptcy.
What the report did not say was that if things had followed their normal course, Automobili Lamborghini would have been forced to declare bankruptcy on 28 February, just over ten days away.
It would then be acquired by the Swiss company, the Mermillod brothers.
But that was the original trajectory. Xia Yu saw it at this time, and with his collecting habit and his money, there was no reason for him to give up such a good opportunity.
As long as Lamborghini Automobili was acquired, the supercar camp of Tiangong Automobile Group would become even more luxurious, and the company's technical foundation would become even stronger. It would also be a good way to break into the Italian car market, and the price would not be too high!
It would be unforgivable in the eyes of heaven if such an opportunity slipped away!
Thinking about this, Xia Yu immediately decided to acquire it. He told George Berkeley, 'George, I want Lamborghini Automobili too. You send someone to keep an eye on it. As soon as Lamborghini Automobili goes bankrupt, you immediately launch an acquisition, before someone else does!'
George Berkeley immediately promised, 'Okay, I'll remember!'
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