Chapter 354 Lotus
Chapter 354 Lotus
Lotus, this word means "lotus", and its transliteration is "Lotus".
As a brand founded in the UK in 1948, it was once known as one of the world's three major sports car brands along with Ferrari and Porsche, but the brand's reputation gradually faded due to poor market sales.
Lotus won seven F7 constructors' championships and six drivers' championships in the 1s. Its Type 6 car in the 72s was rated as "the greatest car in history". Its championship-winning three-components aerodynamic design, lightweight technology and chassis tuning are still the core standards for high-performance sports cars.
In addition to media praise, Ferrari's founder Enzo also wrote in his own handwriting that "Lotus is historically one of the world's three major sports car brands, along with Ferrari and Porsche", and that Tesla purchased the Lotus Elise sports car chassis during its development of the Roadster sports car.
Of course, Musk later decided that modifying the chassis wasn’t as much work as developing a new one.
Yu Xing felt that he was used to being poor. When he discussed Youngman Automobile with Hu Zhengnan before, he never considered the direction of capital operation. In addition to Lotus sports cars, Lotus Group's "Lotus Engineering" is itself a world-leading automotive engineering consulting company, with well-known companies such as General Motors and Toyota as its clients.
From this perspective, Geely's capital operation results are still very outstanding.
As soon as Yu Xing came up with the idea, he checked the situation of Lotus' current owner, Proton Group.
as predicted……
Proton Group was privatized and delisted this year after Malaysia's DRB-HICOM Group acquired a 43% stake. It has seen reduced revenue, widening losses and financial difficulties. Lotus has never brought any profit to Proton since it was acquired by Proton in 1996.
Last year, Lotus even had to miss the Paris Motor Show due to lack of funds, and its annual production was only in the three digits.
The so-called three major sports car brands in the world have little reason to be proud without the support of market sales.
Liu Wanying was curious and went through the materials of Lotus and Proton with Yu Xing. After they had basically finished reading them, she pointed at the financial data and said with a smile, "Boss Yu, what do these losses and declines prove?"
Yu Xing looked at Xiaoying, whose eyes were sly, and said flatteringly, "I can't believe it. What does it prove?"
"Stupid!" Liu Wanying said with a smile, "It's better not to integrate at all than to integrate thoroughly!"
Yu Xing suddenly became serious: "Yes, yes, it's very suitable."
He looked at the financial data again, and thought about the lose-lose situation after Proton acquired Lotus, and couldn't help but sigh: "Strategic integration and technology absorption and transformation are also a kind of ability."
This point can be directly referred to Geely's acquisition of Volvo. Well, it is indeed possible to cross the river by following Geely's lead.
Yu Xing put down the materials and shook his head, saying, "It will definitely not work after Proton is privatized."
Liu Wanying was surprised and asked, "Why?"
If Proton is still doing well later, will it sell Lotus?
Yu Xing was unable to say this, and then he changed his mind: "Cultural workers must have culture, and automotive practitioners must understand cars."
Liu Wanying thought it was nonsense, but after thinking about it again, it seemed to contain infinite truth.
If DRB-HICOM Group was knowledgeable enough, Proton would not have reached this point. It was originally a shareholder of Proton, and privatization and delisting cannot solve the fundamental problem.
Judging from the data we have seen so far, the Lotus Group, which has been acquired by Proton for 16 years, has gradually become a financial black hole, and the possibility of an acquisition cannot be ruled out.
Liu Wanying took the materials from Yu Xing and flipped through them again, shaking her head and saying, "Both Proton and Lotus are in a bad situation, and even their sponsorship of F1 racing has been terminated."
This document was compiled by the secretary urgently, and it is quite comprehensive in showing their current situation. There is a "Lotus F1 Team" in the current F1 event, but the Lotus Group does not have any equity in the team, it is just a sponsorship name. Its previous name was "Renault F1 Team", but as Renault sold the team to Genii Capital, the team name was changed due to sponsorship.
However, the main sponsorship was terminated in April this year due to poor financial conditions, but Genii Capital waived part of the sponsorship fees and the team retained the use of the name.
Liu Wanying thought for a while and estimated that the price of Lotus Group might be enough to buy it with the current funds of Shanfeng. However, buying is one problem, and how to operate it is another.
She expressed her considerations. Buying is buying, but if it is not managed well it will become another financial black hole.
"I haven't bought anything yet, it's still early to think about it." Yu Xing laughed, but still expressed his thoughts, "The development of the supply chain will still be a key part. The domestic supply chain is not only in the automotive industry, but also an important link in the global industrial chain."
"Carbon Silicon Group is trying to promote the development and research and development of the electric vehicle supply chain. Once it can effectively integrate resources, this can also spread to Lotus Cars, which happens to have a strong brand power overseas."
Technological collaboration, resource integration, and supply chain development are what Lotus Group's current owner, Proton Group, cannot do, and the local market in Malaysia is even more insufficient.
If Lotus can be acquired, even without considering the overseas market, it will be relatively easy to promote a mid-to-high-end brand positioning in the huge domestic market, with powerful power and good track performance... Lotus can do it.
Yu Xing thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "The holes in the Lotus sports car are really aerodynamic."
Liu Wanying sharply asked back: "Whose hole is not dug?"
Yu Xing uttered a "uh", "Hmm, well..."
He thought for a moment and said, "I mean to be sincere."
Liu Wanying asked back: "What does sincerity have to do with it? Who hasn't been sincere?"
Yu Xing hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Don't keep asking me questions like these that are difficult to answer."
Liu Wanying: “?”
She returned to her initial judgment: "Lotus sports cars are indeed not expensive, so we can wait a little longer. Proton Group has just been privatized, and if it is willing to sell, there will be rumors. If this brand can really be revived, it is entirely possible to consider the possibility of a separate listing."
Yu Xing smiled and said, "That's even further away. Let's finish the work at hand and test the Mitsubishi engine problem first."
Because of the initiation of the case by a sister unit, Carbon Silicon Group's thermal efficiency test was supplemented with several engines from Mitsubishi, and some other engines have been commissioned to overseas third-party organizations for testing.
Whether the thermal efficiency of Mitsubishi engines is an isolated case or there is a real systemic problem, the answer will soon be revealed.
Liu Wanying nodded and said, "There is also the matter of you as an independent CEO. The integration of Carbon Silicon Data Company has great potential. Oh, yes, you are also a non-staff brother of JD.com, right?"
Yu Xing almost forgot about his “extra-staff brothers”.
When it is necessary to cooperate with WeChat, he is the CEO, and when it is not necessary, he is in the wild. Now Carbon Silicon Data wants to integrate capital and traffic...
Yu Xing stretched out his hand and wiped it across his chest, as if to gently brush away the dust on the "Extra-staff Brother" badge.
Hey, we are all brothers and buddies.
(End of this chapter)