2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 569 The Domineering De-Yangtze Riverization

Throughout June, Changfeng Group's stock price plummeted by over 40%, hitting a low of 5.7 yuan, resulting in heavy losses for shareholders.

Mr. Tan went from being a stock market guru in 2007 to a major investor in 2008, especially after his direct involvement in a listed company, which attracted many investors to Changfeng Group, including some who bought at the peak.

Tan Jincheng didn't care about this. At the end of the month, Tan Jincheng came to Chuzhou for the first time and received a warm welcome from the locals. For the past month or so, Tan Jincheng has been the epitome of being rich and powerful.

In addition to providing 10 million yuan worth of supplies, the two companies also donated a total of 100 million yuan. They then spent more than 400 million yuan on Changfeng Group, spending nearly 600 million yuan in less than a month.

Chuzhou hopes that the takeover of Weilai Automobile will inject new vitality into Yangzi Automobile, such as increasing investment and expanding the factory.

Speaking of which, the information gap between local governments is now ridiculously severe. Local governments are trying to get investment and are keeping it a secret. It wasn't until a long time after Changfeng Group issued its announcement that Yicheng realized that Yangzi Automobile's buyer, Weilai Automobile, was serious.

It was only then that Yicheng thought of contacting Tan Jincheng, but by then Tan Jincheng was already in the United States. Regardless of whether Tan Jincheng was interested or not, the matter was already settled, and it was too late.

My dad told me that Yicheng didn't know who the main entity of Weilai Automobile was at first. When they found out, they thought it was just a casual matter, and that building a car factory would take several years. The reason given was that the car qualification issue needed to be resolved first.

"Haha, they have no idea about my efficiency. If they studied Flash Technology carefully, they would know that I have always pursued high efficiency and prefer to solve problems through acquisitions."

There's nothing that shopping can't solve; if there is, it just means you haven't bought enough.

The welcoming ceremony was not too complicated. During this special period, Tan Jincheng's travel was kept simple. The local government was also careful about the impact and did not want to make it too extravagant. Although more than a month has passed, the pain is still there, and everyone is being very cautious.

If it weren't for the tight schedule, Tan Jincheng would have liked to take a break for a while and not officially start working until the end of July when the Olympic promotion period begins.

Despite the welcome, the management of Yangzi Motors witnessed the young man's domineering attitude at their first meeting after he officially started working, which made these veteran state-owned enterprise employees quite uncomfortable.

"As always, the first thing I do when I take over a company is to raise employee salaries, and Yangzi Automobile is no exception. However, we are a private company, and we value efficiency. If there are any reasons for non-compliance, we will also remove them. Please remember to inform your respective departments. The specific salary increase will be announced to all employees later."

Seeing that there was a tendency to applaud, Tan Jincheng quickly suppressed it: "Seniors, please be patient. I haven't finished speaking yet. What I'm about to say might make you a little uncomfortable."

"After the equity transfer is completed, the company name of Yangzi Automobile will be changed to Weilai Automobile (Chuzhou) Branch in the subsequent business registration. I know this is hard for everyone to accept, but I hope everyone can accept it."

Removing the Yangtze River influence was the first step Tan Jincheng took over.

Of course, this is only from the company level. It doesn't mean that the Yangzi trademark brand will no longer be used. After all, Yangzi pickups still have a large market share in the pickup truck market, but the branding also needs to be adjusted.

Before anyone could react, Tan Jincheng's next statement was even more unacceptable to the management, especially the SUV division: "The Yangzi trademark will still be retained, and the pickup trucks produced will still use the Yangzi trademark, but the Feiyang brand will be shelved indefinitely."

Feiyang is an SUV brand under Yangzi Motors. The sales of this SUV are not good. Tan Jincheng does not plan to save it. It is more practical to develop his own brand than to save it. Acquiring a company is about getting rid of the useless ones and keeping the ones that are useful to him.

However, this was really hard for the SUV project team to accept. The employees of Yangzi Motors are generally older, and some have worked for the company their whole lives. Their feelings for the company are incomparable to those of private enterprises.

"Mr. Tan, this isn't a good idea. The Feiyang brand, priced at 8 or 10, still has a certain market competitiveness. With just a little more investment in product upgrades, it can still compete."

The decision to shelve Feiyang was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the SUV project team. They had thought that with the new, wealthy boss taking over, they could make great strides, but the very first meeting dealt them a severe setback.

If we shelve this project, what's the point of having this team? They might even get laid off.

"It's unnecessary. It hasn't been on the sales charts for several years. It's not even as good as Zhongtai 2008. Saving it is a waste of money."

"But don't worry, everyone. Weilai Auto's first vehicle in the civilian vehicle market will also be an SUV. The new model is already in the design phase. When General Manager Zhang arrives, he will coordinate the technical aspects with you."

To focus on its own brand, the Feiyang brand was destined to be shelved; otherwise, there would be no need to register a series of brands. It was impossible for Tan Jincheng to continue to focus on this brand after buying Yangzi Automobile.

Yangzi Automobile is both its own and not its own; only Wei Lai truly belongs to it.

It's the same principle as foreign companies acquiring domestic beverage brands and then shelving them. That's how ruthless business is. Feiyang has to make way for Weilai's own brand.

If Weilai Auto had a pickup truck brand, the Yangzi brand would also have to give way, regardless of right or wrong.

"If there's a conflict with the development of the new brand, then there's nothing that can be done. But should we discuss changing the company name with the other shareholders?"

The speaker was Zhu Pei, the vice president and de facto head of Yangzi Motors. This 37-year-old vice president, formerly the company's chief accountant, is a native of Chuzhou and represents the new generation of Yangzi Motors employees. Although saying this might offend the new boss, Zhu Pei felt compelled to speak on behalf of everyone: neither the name change nor the shelving of the Feiyang brand is acceptable to the long-time employees of Yangzi.

"No need. My company can only have one voice, and that is my voice. However, I will inform the other shareholders later."

That's domineering, absolutely domineering.

This was the feeling of everyone present: the young boss was far less humble than he had been during the reception yesterday, and his image as a gentleman in the public eye was completely inconsistent with what he was portrayed as in the media.

He can even say something like, "My company can only have one voice."

In reality, they still don't understand Tan Jincheng. Both Flash Group and Orange Technology have shareholders of all sizes. When Tan Jincheng wants to make a decision, he never holds a shareholders' meeting. He always does it first and then talks about it later.

They'll notify you when something important happens or when they remember, but if they don't, you'll just have to bear with it. That's a rather domineering approach.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? After all, we're all shareholders."

Tan Jincheng gave him a deep look: "It's settled then."

In the June heat, Zhu Pei felt a cold sweat break out on his brow. He had been promoted to vice president for less than a year, and he might be fired because of just one sentence. But he had no choice but to say it.

Whether or not to change the name of a company after buying it depends on whether Mr. Tan wants to. If he has to consult with shareholders even to change the name of a company after spending 2.75 million, then everyone might as well just part ways.

"In addition to the three points mentioned above, I will increase my investment in the company and build new production lines. The annual investment will not be less than 5 million yuan, and I will gradually make the company bigger and stronger."

5 million yuan is just a drop in the bucket for a car factory, but for Yangzi Automobile, which only has a few hundred employees, investing 5 million yuan every year in technology upgrades and factory expansion is not a small amount.

This is a continuous investment, not a one-time thing. Tan Jincheng understands the principle of giving a stick and then a treat.

"In addition, we will work with the local government to help resolve the issue of retired workers from the union. You can say that out loud. My company, Tan Jincheng, has always been known for treating its workers well, and we have always adhered to the principle of being a responsible company."

The most troublesome issue when acquiring a state-owned enterprise is actually the retired workers. This is similar to the issue of labor unions in foreign countries. In foreign countries, if you are going to make an acquisition, it will be useless no matter how much money you offer or how many benefits you give.

Oh, right, and environmental organizations too.

The current shareholders of Flash Group are Zhang Xupeng, Beicang City Investment, Jin Chuanling and Wang Qinghua. Zhang Xupeng and Beicang City Investment have always followed Tan Jincheng's lead, while the other two hold few shares and have no intention of intervening in the company's decision-making.

It's a blessing that Tan Jincheng doesn't interfere with their company's decisions. As for Orange Technology, their shareholders are all professional investment institutions, and they won't interfere too much with the company's specific decisions.

Tan Jincheng's domineering behavior was not a problem in these two companies, but the situation was different with Yangzi Automobile. Apart from Xinhua Lian, which did not take charge, both Changfeng Group and Yangzi Automobile had made specific decisions.

Tan Jincheng's domineering approach from the outset actually puts him in opposition to the two major shareholders, especially Yangzi Automobile, as he completely disregards their feelings towards the brand.

Tan Jincheng had considered the consequences of doing this; it was highly likely to provoke a backlash from the entire company.

However, after careful consideration, we decided to use a high-pressure, domineering approach to solve these problems from the outset.

On the one hand, dealing with this problem little by little in a conciliatory manner may not be able to solve it, but at least it will leave an image of being weak and vulnerable, making people think that they are easy to bully.

They started with drastic measures; if anyone disagreed, they were all wiped out.

At the same time, this is also a place to learn. If this trick works, it will be much easier when he takes over Changfeng Group in the future. After all, this is his first time taking over a state-owned enterprise and he has no experience.

The meeting lasted less than half an hour before they were dismissed, which made them, who were used to meetings that lasted for hours, feel very uncomfortable.

Tan Jincheng didn't let the executives waste time talking. He hadn't even memorized the names of many of them yet, so listening to their rambling was pointless.

"President Zhu, please stay behind. Everyone else, please take your positions. Zeng, please distribute the points I just mentioned to the entire factory via announcement."

(End of this chapter)