Return to 1958 and build a century-old giant

Chapter 824 Investment in the Luxury Goods Industry
“Mini cars? You want an entire car brand?” Thatcher asked in surprise.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, I can't possibly only own one factory, can I?"

“This…” Thatcher hesitated for a moment and said, “Mini is also a well-known British car brand. Letting it be acquired by foreign capital is not something I can decide on my own.”

“I know, so I’m letting you know in advance. If you agree, I will proceed with the formal business process and then submit an application to the British government,” Yang Wendong said formally.

The automotive industry is of paramount importance to any country, and the acquisition of such a company must be approved at the national level, even if the car company is already in dire straits.

"I also need to think about it." Thatcher was caught off guard and naturally couldn't make a promise on the spot.

Yang Wendong said, "I understand."

Thatcher then asked, "Have you spoken with the management of Leyland Motors?"

"Not yet. If you don't agree, then there's no need for me to communicate with Leland." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "There are some other car brands in Europe that I might consider."

"It seems you're thinking of entering the automotive industry." Thatcher finally understood. "So, are you confident you can revive Mini after acquiring the company?"

Yang Wendong said: "I dare not say I am 100% sure, but I am about 50% sure. Madam Prime Minister, you may not know that I have nearly 800 car sales centers in several Asian countries, selling various brands from all over the world. Many Japanese car brands also cooperate with my sales company."

Once I acquire Mini, I can export cars to the Asian market. I have sales and after-sales channels, plus some connections in the media. That should at least contribute to Mini's export success.

In the 1960s and 70s, Yang Wendong began to establish various channels in Southeast Asia, namely film, retail and automobile sales centers.
The core objective is to control sufficient distribution channels; even Best Buy in the United States has this objective.
In the automotive industry, it's very difficult to directly participate in manufacturing, even with money. However, participating in end-retail is possible with just a lot of money, and land prices in Southeast Asia were cheap in the early days, making it very low-cost to buy property.
With the economic development of Southeast Asia today, not to mention selling cars, even land is making a fortune. Of course, the same is true for movie theaters and retail.
With nearly 800 car retail centers, even giants like Toyota and Honda in Japan have to give them some face. After all, so many stores and preferential sales can have a significant impact on any car brand.

"Really? 800 companies?" Thatcher's eyes lit up as well;
With 800 stores, selling an average of one or two cars a month, that's more than 10,000 cars a year. For the British car industry, annual sales of more than 10,000 cars are already considered a good figure.

The British automotive industry differs from that of Germany and Japan. Because it couldn't compete in the early years, it had to close its market to its own. A little over a decade ago, it was able to thrive thanks to the various federations, but after the independence of its colonies, British products lost their competitive edge and ultimately could only operate within its own borders.
With so many car brands in such a small British market, and with exports so difficult, it was no wonder the market declined.

Yang Wendong added, "Yes, and not only that, my capital will soon be used to purchase or build new car sales centers in Europe and the United States. We are already in talks in the United States and may take over more than 300. In Europe, we will also start large-scale investment next year."

Like Best Buy, he plans to leverage his substantial capital to gradually control distribution channels, thus securing a long-term share of the automotive industry's profits. Furthermore, having sufficient distribution channels would facilitate expansion if he were to manufacture cars himself.

"If that's the case, could we cooperate with Leyland Motors?" Thatcher was genuinely interested.

After she came to power, she faced numerous economic problems, one of the worst being the Leyland Group.

This conglomerate, which integrated all British car brands, was nationalized in 1975 due to long-term, massive losses.
From 75 to 78, the British government injected a total of £10 billion, but it was still unable to help. Last year, the government suffered a loss of £1.2 million, which had to be borne by the government.

This has become a huge worry for her, because she can't get rid of it. The entire Leland region has created jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. Even if it's a loss, the government has to foot the bill, otherwise her position might be in jeopardy.
However, if Leyland's exports can be increased, even if it doesn't turn the company around, it can at least reduce the huge government subsidies and get the entire industrial chain running again, thus helping to reduce the unemployment rate.

She never expected that Yang Wendong would have such resources in Asia, and even be preparing to fully invest in the car retail industry. He's truly a savior!

"That's probably difficult. Leyland Auto's problem lies in its own technological shortcomings," Yang Wendong shook his head. "With my connections, supporting even one company is the limit; I can't help more than that."

Leyland Motors was founded in 1968. At that time, the British car industry was in a terrible state, competing in a small domestic market. In the end, no one could make a living, so they merged together and then controlled the British government to raise import tariffs on cars, trying to play the role of a monopoly in the UK.

But the British public isn't stupid; they'd rather not buy a car than pay a high price for a junk truck.
Most importantly, after the establishment of the European Community, Britain was forced to open its domestic market, which dealt the final blow to Leyland Motors, leaving it with no choice but to completely collapse.

Even with losses of hundreds of millions of dollars a year, Yang Wendong couldn't save the company. He could only choose one of the smaller companies that was barely acceptable and suitable for his future plans to invest in.

In fact, Leyland still owns many well-known companies, such as Jaguar, Land Rover, and MG. However, these companies were able to survive in the past because they were acquired by large automobile companies from other countries, which then injected a lot of technology and capital to save them.
Many of Leyland's businesses were also acquired by foreign car companies, which invested huge resources but suffered heavy losses and eventually went bankrupt.

Statistically speaking, investing in the British automotive industry results in more losses than gains.

If he hadn't known about the excellent opportunities in mainland China and his own plans to heavily invest in car retail centers around the world, he wouldn't have invested in British cars. Thatcher thought for a moment and said, "Everything is negotiable. How will we know it won't work if we don't try?"

“Madam Prime Minister, cars are not like other products. The cost of testing them is extremely high. In terms of resources, I can only support Leyland's car brand at most at the moment,” Yang Wendong said.

In its previous life, the mainland was a major market for many car brands, but some international brands did not enter, such as Chrysler and Fiat.

Chrysler's failure to enter the mainland market was due to special circumstances, but Fiat's failure was normal. The reason for not entering was that the promotion cost of automobiles is extremely high.
The more expensive the product, the more buyers will care about the brand. For example, with home appliances, normal people would not buy no-name brands, let alone cars.

In any region, brand promotion requires a huge investment of funds. Even though Yang Wendong controls sales channels in Southeast Asia, he still needs to invest considerable resources in the media to open up some market for Mini. Adding another car brand would be almost impossible, as resources are insufficient and car sales centers can only allocate resources to one model at most.

Langley is a no-name brand, unlike Volkswagen and Toyota, which only have a logo; moreover, Langley's quality and technology are really bad. There's a reason why Yang Wendong couldn't afford to mess around with cars. This kind of thing can be deadly if something goes wrong.

Thatcher understood Yang Wendong's meaning and nodded, saying, "I understand. This is indeed a bit difficult for you, but I also hope to have some opportunities."

"It's too early to talk about these things now. Perhaps there will be opportunities in the future, but cooperation also has prerequisites," Yang Wendong subtly reminded them.

If he could acquire Mini, everything would be negotiable. Although he probably wouldn't agree to help the entire Langley, at most he'd choose a suitable one from Land Rover or Jaguar and give them an extra boost;
However, if the acquisition fails, they certainly won't help with their own car sales resources at all. Wouldn't it be better to just sell Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, or even the Big Three American automakers? At least in terms of quality and technology, these big brands don't have any major problems, which would give them much more peace of mind.

“Hmm,” Thatcher understood, and then said, “Mr. Yang, this matter involves a lot of people and it probably won’t be successful in a short time. You may need to wait for a while. I’m telling you this first.”

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I understand, and I was prepared for this."

No matter how badly MINI performs now, it is still a car company with annual sales of 4 to 5 vehicles, more than 5000 direct jobs in the UK, and it is a special industry like the automotive industry, and it is also foreign-owned.
The process of acquiring such a company is bound to be very complicated, and the British Parliament may not necessarily agree, which will lead to further disputes.

So I deliberately notified Thatcher in advance, hoping that she could push this forward as soon as possible, even if it takes a year or two, as long as it can be successful in the early 80s. My main purpose was still the mainland market.
The reason why Mini, or Langley cars, are not doing well is mainly because they are still using technology from the 60s. In the early days, they did not make any progress because the market was stable, and later they were crushed by German, French, American and even Japanese cars.
However, the automotive technology of the 60s was very suitable for China, while the latest technologies might be beyond China's capabilities.
Historically, the Santana introduced to China in the 80s was actually based on Volkswagen's automotive technology from the 60s.

He never intended to become the mainstream in mainland China, but being able to get a share of the market would be good. Mini, a fuel-efficient small car, is suitable for mainland China, which is short of oil. Although mainland China is now an oil exporting country, it is actually short of oil because oil is a major source of foreign exchange.

In the UK market, besides the automotive industry, there are other sectors suitable for investment, but things have to be done step by step; let's get the automotive business sorted out first.

Aside from automobiles, most other industries are regional monopolies, similar to the British-owned industries in Hong Kong. It wouldn't be easy for a foreign company like him to acquire these industries. Moreover, Thatcher had just come to power, and even if she wanted to reform, it wouldn't be so quick. So, he would wait until he had acquired Mini before gradually planning for other industries.

Afterwards, Yang Wendong stayed in the UK for a few more days. Through Thatcher's assistant, he got to know many officials in the current British government, including the Minister in charge of industry. He would likely have a lot of contact with them in the future. After all, he couldn't go to Thatcher for everything. She was the Prime Minister, after all. At most, she would discuss some major issues with him, but other details would still need to be communicated with British officials.

Yang Wendong made many official statements, such as increasing investment in the UK in the future. However, these foreigners also tried to get Yang Wendong to immigrate to the UK, which he naturally disagreed with. Even if the Mini acquisition failed, he would not agree to it. He did not want a green card or anything like that, but he was worried that he might be subject to global taxation in the future.

He left a team to follow up on the situation in Britain, while he himself traveled to Venice, Italy, by private jet.

The name "Water City" carries considerable weight.
Anyone who has been to Venice, Italy in a past life knows that it's more of a tourist trap than a tourist destination. Garbage is everywhere, people urinate in public (public areas charge 2 euros), and pickpockets are rampant.
However, in the 70s, Italy and even the whole of Europe and America were still doing quite well. After all, they had plundered the world for hundreds of years, and their economy was still good. Even when they encountered the oil crisis, they were still much stronger than other continents.
On June 23, a middle-aged man of about 40 years old came to the hotel conference room where Yang Wendong was resting.

"Mr. Yang, this is the information you asked me to look up before. Please take a look." The middle-aged man handed over the information and introduced it, "There are many luxury goods companies in Italy nowadays, and this is the list."

However, most of these are not publicly listed companies. If we want to acquire them, we'll have to negotiate with them one by one, and I can't guarantee whether we'll succeed.

"If it succeeds, great; if not, so be it." Yang Wendong nodded, then drew a few circles on the document with a pen and said, "These are the companies I've circled. Focus your negotiations with them and see if you can get them to invest. I can try my best to meet their needs, whether it's funding or other resources."

Europe's luxury goods industry is almost unique in the world. Even the United States, with its stronger economy, cannot compete with Europe in the luxury goods market.

France and Italy are the most prominent among them. This trip to Italy is for this purpose. In the late 70s, some of the future luxury giants were still small in scale, making it a good time to invest.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)