Chapter 177: find the target

After receiving the order from Bao Zixuan, John Chambers immediately contacted the major headhunting companies in the United States. Recruiting automotive R&D talent, and starting to inspect factories that the American auto giant is ready to sell.

Affected by the oil crisis, the U.S. auto industry has been severely hit. Many companies now have a large amount of production capacity that cannot be released. The operating rate of workers is seriously insufficient, and life is very difficult. Many American auto engineers are unemployed, and suddenly received the intention of Black Cloud Group to recruit a large number of auto engineers and purchase auto factories and mechanical equipment.

Many American auto giants have taken the initiative to contact John Chambers. After all, everyone knows that the Black Cloud Group has abundant cash flow. It is very rare to be able to make a fortune at this time, not to mention Bao Zixuan is very generous in shopping. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it is very likely that this store will not exist after this village. Everyone is very active. After all, wherever the factory is idle, every day is a sky-high cost.

The wages of workers alone are a big headache for these auto giants, and the American Auto Union is a very powerful organization. The consequences of laying off workers are beyond the reach of many large companies.

The automotive engineer heard that the Black Cloud Group was recruiting, so what are you waiting for, hurry up and sign up. Bao Zixuan knew that if he wanted the horse to run, the horse would have to eat good grass. The salaries of the branches of the entire Heiyun Group in various regions of the world are very high. This is mainly because the products produced by the Black Cloud Group are all profiteering products, and many of them are in a monopoly position.

Now hearing that Heiyun Group is going to enter the auto industry on a large scale, many outstanding engineers have come here inexplicably. This made Bao Zixuan very happy. , It seems that the Black Cloud Group is not weaker than other big companies in attracting talents, and the road ahead will definitely be much easier.

In 1925, Walter P. Chrysler broke away from General Motors and founded the Chrysler Motor Company. That same year, the company bought Maxwell Motors. In 1928, it bought the Dodge Brothers Motor Company. From 1936 to 1949, it once surpassed Ford Motor Company and became the second largest automobile company in the United States. However, from the 1950s to the early 1960s, production was in a period of decline. In the mid-1960s, the company was reorganized to stabilize its position. After 1974, Chrysler's business went downhill again, with severe losses in 1978 and the brink of bankruptcy in 1980. In the end, Chrysler was saved from collapse thanks to a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee from the government. In 1982, it began to turn losses into profits. In 1994, the company had a total of 115,900 employees and a net profit of $3.7 billion, accounting for 14.7% of the US auto market.

In addition to commercial products, the company is also engaged in the production of military supplies, and has 10 factories engaged in national defense and aerospace industries. The company has specialized companies in export, transportation, finance, credit, leasing and insurance, and has 132 retail outlets in the United States. The company is headquartered in Detroit, USA, and still has many branches in Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Panama, South Africa, Australia and other countries. Co-produced Cherokee Jeeps with Beijing, China in the 1980s. Its car sales ranks ninth among car companies in the world. Its predecessor was the Maxwell Motor Company.

The company has 36 auto manufacturing plants and auto parts factories, 22 parts warehouses and 10 defense and aerospace factories in China. The company's products are divided into two categories: one is automotive products. Including finished cars and their parts, the company also imports and sells cars from other car companies. The engineering technology, design and manufacturing equipment required for production are provided by the Chrysler Technology Center. The second is Chrysler's financial business. Chrysler Financial Institutions and its affiliates provide a variety of financial services to Chrysler customers. It also provides wholesale and retail financial services, leasing services, inventory financial services and consumer credit. There are others, mainly referring to the car rental services provided by Five Star Transportation and its affiliates since the late 1980s.

Chrysler was acquired by Germany's Daimler Group in 1998 for $33 billion to form DaimlerChrysler Automobiles. This combination, dubbed the "elephant marriage", failed to create a successful global auto group. Instead, The high cost of retirement and pensions in the United States has caused great trouble for Daimler.

In August 2007, Zepps Capital Management, a private equity fund led by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Snow, completed the acquisition of Chrysler Automobiles, purchasing an 80.1% stake in Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler Group at a price of $7.4 billion. . The acquired Chrysler will appear as "Chrysler LLC", while the DaimlerChrysler Group will remove "Chrysler" from the company name.

John Chambers is now introducing Bao Zixuan, one of the three major American auto giants. At present, the three major American auto manufacturing giants, GM, Ford and Chrysler, are not having a good time. Among them, Chrysler had the most difficult time.

However, it is not realistic to buy GM and Ford's auto factories. The skinny camel is bigger than the horse. GM and Ford will never sell car factories no matter how bad they are. These corporate holding families are terrifying existences, and they are not short of money at all.

Even Chrysler Bao Zixuan did not plan to acquire it. After all, this company has a part of defense contracting tasks. The US government would never agree to sell Chrysler to a Hong Kong man. But Bao Zixuan knew that he would never become an American citizen in his life. There is simply no chance for an acquisition of such a business.

It shouldn't be a big problem to acquire one or two factories and sub-brands. After all, this is also a disguised solution to the employment problem of workers. At the same time, it can also provide funds for Chrysler to continue its life.

Bao Zixuan is only interested in three aspects of Chrysler now, the Dodge car brand, the Jeep car brand and the Chrysler car factory in the past life can be packaged and sold to Germans and Italians, and now only one or two sub-brands are acquired And one or two automakers shouldn't be a problem.

John Chambers: "Boss, only Chrysler Motors in the U.S. is more suitable for our requirements. There is no problem in terms of scale and technical strength, the main thing is that they are in trouble now. This gives us a chance, but boss The entire Chrysler acquisition can only be acquired by becoming a U.S. citizen, otherwise the Commerce Department will not approve the plan.”

Bao Zixuan had thought of this issue for a long time, but the acquisition of car sub-brands and factories is more suitable. He said: "Although I am interested in the overall acquisition of Chrysler, it is impossible to do it in the current situation. We are now taking the second place, mainly discussing the acquisition of Dodge, Jeep and car factories."

After all, it is impossible for Chrysler to sell a lot of U.S. defense-related business to me, a Hong Kong native. Now we only need its two car brands and one or two factories. I don’t think the U.S. Department of Commerce will be embarrassed. After all, we will solve a lot of employment problems, and the unemployment rate of auto workers in the United States is very high right now.

John Chambers: "Okay, I'm relieved to hear you say that. I'll study the new plan proposed by the boss right now, but once the acquisition is concluded, I hope the boss can come forward to appease the Chrysler workers and make them Confidence after the acquisition of the Black Cloud Group."

Bao Zixuan agreed to John Chambers' request. He also knew the influence of the American Auto Union on the workers. It would be very troublesome to appease the workers after the acquisition. This is the reason why many people in later generations do not want to set up factories in the United States. There may be some conveniences, but the workers alone will give everyone a headache.

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