Chapter 738: The beginning of the plot against the British automotive industry

Chapter 738: The beginning of the plot against the British automotive industry

Chapter 738: The beginning of the plot against the British automotive industry

"Hello, Mrs. Thatcher." Yang Wendong said politely, "I heard that you are going to compete for the leadership of the Conservative Party. I wish you success in advance."

The UK, like other European countries, is also divided into political parties. There are many types of political parties, but they are also divided into large and small ones. The Conservative Party is also one of the largest parties in the UK.

Originally, Thatcher successfully ran for the leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, and then won the prime ministerial competition four years later, starting her legendary life.

Thatcher smiled and said, "Thank you very much. I also hope that I can succeed. In this way, I can use my ideas to help the British government and people, including Hong Kong."

"That would be great." Yang Wendong just smiled and said;
Since it was all about Hong Kong, he couldn't say much. If he expressed too much, if the news got out, people would think he had completely surrendered to Britain.
Although the mainland has not yet reformed, the 97-year deadline has gradually become a problem in the eyes of the Hong Kong government and many Hong Kong Chinese. There is no idea how to solve it, and most people are not clear about the mainland's attitude, so they are quite sensitive.

Regarding this matter, he is not in a hurry to take sides, because whether he takes a side or not will not affect the result, but will affect his career. Even if his heart is in the mainland, there is no need to show it. If he has the energy, it would be better to invest more in the mainland after the future reform and opening up, so that a real win-win situation can be achieved from the material and economic levels.

Thatcher didn't think much about it and said, "Mr. Yang, please sit down."

"Okay." After both of them sat down, they exchanged pleasantries for a while before officially entering into the topic. Thatcher said, "Mr. Yang, I came to Asia this time mainly to represent the UK and reach a lot of commercial cooperation with many Asian countries, one of which involves British government bonds;
I know Mr. Yang is a wealthy man in Hong Kong. I wonder if Mr. Yang is interested in buying some British government bonds? The interest rate is definitely not low. "

"British government bonds?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment after hearing this and said, "Mrs. Thatcher, those who invest in government bonds are generally large foundations seeking stability. My companies are all doing business normally and will not buy these government bonds. I never participate in not only the UK, but also European, American and even Hong Kong government bonds."

Thatcher smiled and said, "I understand that with Mr. Yang's management ability, he naturally doesn't care about the income of ordinary government bonds. However, there are many financial means to purchase government bonds. Even if the interest rate is only 5%, as long as the operation is good, it is possible to turn it into an annualized return of more than 50%."

"I know this method, but the risk is too great, and I'm not good at this kind of hedging operation. It's better not to take risks." After listening to this, Yang Wendong refused again.

Finance is a magical tool. As long as you are brave enough, even some low-interest and low-risk investments can be turned into high-risk and high-return ones.

Take government bonds for example. If you just invest and buy them for $5 million, assuming an annual interest rate of 5%, the annual interest rate is only 1.05%. But if you are bolder, you can use the $ million in the next year as collateral to a bank. Because the risk is low, you can even get a loan of $ to million, and then continue to buy and mortgage.

With unlimited mortgage, $100 million can leverage $500 million or even $1 billion, so the returns will naturally be high.
In fact, many financial conglomerates do this because the risk of government bonds is indeed much smaller. Even if the leverage ratio is increased a little, it is still much safer than playing other hedging projects.

However, there is a core problem here. Although the government will not default on the loan, the exchange rate fluctuates. Once the exchange rate falls, the loss under the leverage will also increase exponentially.
The pound will continue to depreciate in the future, which Yang Wendong knows very well. However, he is not a professional financial history expert after all, so he does not know how much the pound will fall in the future.

Seeing Yang Wendong's firm attitude, Thatcher didn't say anything else. In fact, it was not just Yang Wendong. Many countries had rejected her before. The reason was simple: if there was really no risk, would they need you to recommend it?
Thatcher then continued, "The issue of national debt involves a lot of things. Mr. Yang can take his time to think about it. I came to see you for another matter. I hope that your Changxing Group can expand its investment in the UK."

"Invest in the UK?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Does this have anything to do with your votes?"

Thatcher nodded and said, "Yes, it is related. During this trip to Asia, I also looked for other Asian financial groups to invest in the UK. As long as there are enough groups investing there, it can create more jobs, which will be of great help to our own party leader election or other future elections."

"But the wages in the UK are too high, which is not suitable for many factories and businesses." Yang Wendong paused and said, "And the biggest problem is the British trade unions. The strikes are so severe that companies cannot operate normally."

Changxing Group has already invested in some factories in the UK for the European market. Today, it has about 3000 employees in the UK, so it is very familiar with the situation in the UK.
Changxing Group's factories in the UK have also experienced strikes over the years. There are many reasons for this, but in short, they would go on strike as soon as the union found one, which was very annoying. In the end, it took some effort to resolve the issue. What's more troublesome is that strikes in other companies, such as Changxing Group's suppliers, transportation departments, public service departments, etc., will also indirectly affect their own company.
If it weren’t for some special purposes, and if these things could be solved in the end, Yang Wendong would have long stopped wanting to build factories directly in Europe and the United States;

In the past, the mainland was able to become a global factory, and stability in this area was of paramount importance. Although from another perspective, many workers' interests were sacrificed, there may be no perfect policy in this world.

Thatcher smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, you know my governing platform. I don't like union strikes. If I gain power, I will definitely restrict the rights of unions to a large extent and protect the interests of investors like you.

But the premise is that I need to gain power, which requires sufficient support, especially at the economic level. You know the situation in the UK now. Whoever can solve more employment problems will have enough advantages in the election. "

"I understand, but the risk is still too great for me." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked, "How many jobs does Mrs. Thatcher need me to create?"

Thatcher replied: "At least 3000 people, the more the better, the more jobs you can create, and when I am elected in the future, I will give you a higher reward."

"What kind of reward?" Yang Wendong asked his question;

In fact, this is a kind of transaction in itself. Given his current situation, unless he really has to build a factory in the UK, he will not go there. He would rather produce safely in Asia and then ship to Europe. The cost of containers is very low anyway, and the Suez Canal will open next year, and the mainland will be opened in a few years.

But if there are other rewards, as long as the benefits outweigh the disadvantages of opening a factory, then it can naturally be negotiated, especially for the investment in Thatcher who has not yet become prime minister. This is a ZZ investment and also the first time for Yang Wendong after his time travel.

Thatcher said: "In terms of taxation, I can give you tax exemptions. After I am elected, I will also give you higher investment privileges. Whatever you need specifically is up to you, Mr. Yang. As long as we can talk about it, we can talk about it." "What if I want to acquire some important British companies, is that okay?" Yang Wendong asked.

Thatcher asked back: "Which companies are you going to buy?"

Yang Wendong was silent for a while, and then said, "It's not certain yet, but I want to acquire a British automobile company or a British infrastructure company."

"Cars and infrastructure?" Thatcher was a little surprised and replied, "Infrastructure is not possible for the time being. These are all controlled by our government. There is no plan to privatize them for the time being. Even if they are privatized, they will definitely be restricted to people with our nationality, unless Mr. Yang can become a British citizen."

Although she also felt in her plan that many industries in the UK were controlled by state-owned enterprises, and the poor operation of state-owned enterprises caused a heavy burden on the government, so she also had plans to privatize state-owned enterprises in the future;

However, this behavior will inevitably be strongly opposed by the government, so even if it succeeds, the target of the sale must be a local enterprise, after all, it involves national security.

"Let's talk about it later." Yang Wendong asked again: "Many of the car companies are not British state-owned enterprises. Will the British government agree to this?"

Thatcher asked, "Which car company has Mr. Yang set his sights on?"

Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "It's hard to say now. After all, this will happen in a few years. In a few years, I will also have to look at the status of various automobile companies, their market share, technology and other issues.

I am making this request now just to confirm whether it is possible for me to acquire a British car brand."

Thatcher said: "I can't promise anything about this. The automobile industry is the most important thing for the country. The automobile industry in the UK is indeed not doing well, so this government plans to merge several automobile companies.
If I win the election in the future, I may gradually privatize the automobile industry, but I don’t know what British cars will be like by then;
I can only say that if there is no clear legal objection, then I can agree to your acquisition of some car brands, but I am afraid that I cannot agree to your acquisition of core technologies."

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now and talk about it in the future." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

The British automotive industry was a joke in the past. There were basically no brands, and even if there were, they had long been acquired by other brands and operated as sub-brands, and even the factories had been moved out of the UK.
But this also shows that the British automobile industry was still good before. British cars were still very strong in the early days. After all, Britain was once the empire on which the sun never set. Many places around the world could only sell British products. Such a large market was enough to promote multiple automobile industries.
Unfortunately, Britain made the same mistake in its early years as it did in port transformation a few years ago, because cars threatened the jobs of coachmen. In order to maintain the "product of the old society", Britain restricted the development of cars. As a result, the automobile industries in Germany, France and Italy took off.

After World War II, British car brands were limited by the lack of colonial markets and their technological inferiority to Germany and France. Ultimately, they could only operate in a closed market in their own country and a few other places. This could preserve the automobile industry in the short term, but in the long run, closing the country to the outside world would only lead to a wider gap and increasing losses.

So, in the 70s, before Thatcher came to power, the British government set up the Leyland Group to unify the management of various British automobile industries, hoping to utilize the advantages of all parties for common development. But any normal person would know that this big pot model would inevitably lead to further decline.

Therefore, in the 80s after Thatcher came to power, she began to cut Leyland Motors on a large scale, selling what should be sold and closing what should be closed. This also caused many British local brands to become subsidiaries of other countries. There are also many companies that are still doing well in the 21st century, such as MINI, Jaguar Land Rover, and some top luxury brands.

Thatcher asked again: "Mr. Yang, please consider my previous suggestion again. If you become a British citizen, then many industries in the UK will not be too restrictive for you in the future.

Moreover, the automotive industry must develop in the UK. Even if you buy a British car brand as a Hong Konger, you can’t move it to Hong Kong. You must still operate it in the UK.”

"I understand. I need to think about this again." Yang Wendong still did not refuse directly. In short, in this situation, it is better not to make it clear. Even if his meaning is clear, he has to leave a way out.

What Thatcher said was right. No matter which British car company was acquired by herself, the factory and market must still be in the UK. Even if other auto giants bought British cars, they would have to agree to such requests. After all, the British government is not stupid and it is impossible for it to let outsiders take away the automobile industry.

Thatcher then asked: "Even if you acquire a British car brand, how can you ensure that it can operate normally?"

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "I'm not too sure, but I also have a professional car sales chain in Asia. This is my chance."

He had long wanted to participate in the automotive industry, but the cost of participation was too high, and Hong Kong was not a gathering place for the automotive industry, without an industrial chain. Even though he tried hard to get Changxing Industrial and Honor Electronics to participate in supplying Japanese auto brands, he had only achieved a little success over the years.

Therefore, the next best option is to set up a large chain of car dealerships in Southeast Asia, just like Jardine Matheson in its previous life. This way, it can not only participate in the interests of the automobile industry, but also, when the scale grows larger, it can even negotiate terms with giants such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

This is the special advantage formed by the power of capital and the knowledge of the future economic development of Southeast Asia. Once successful, not only can a large industry be acquired, but entering the automotive industry will provide an additional sales channel. Although this sales channel is not enough to support a company, more sales will certainly not hurt.

Thatcher smiled and said, "So that's what's going on. Then it's not just one car brand. Can't other British cars also enter the Asian market through this sales channel?"

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(End of this chapter)