Chapter 1231: The Rare Earth Office that Came Knocking

"Could it be that the British government will block it? Or is the Rolls-Royce Motor Group unwilling?'

'Both, I guess!'

Xia Yu briefly replied before falling into deep thought. After making up his mind, he said again, 'Secretary Liu, let me explain it to you like this.'

'Rolls-Royce Motor was spun off from Rolls-Royce in the UK today. Rolls-Royce, I don't know if you've heard of it, is a British company that produces aero engines and is also one of the UK's defence contractors.

'Even though the Rolls-Royce Motor Group has now been spun off, it is still somewhat sensitive. And this group is currently the dominant British car manufacturer. For the sake of domestic employment in the UK, the British government is not necessarily happy to see the outflow of the Rolls-Royce Motor Group's top technology.'

'This is likely to come from resistance on the part of the British government.'

'Of course, what is more important is that for the Rolls-Royce Motor Group, not only is this unprofitable, it will also have a huge impact on their brand positioning and shake the foundations of the Rolls-Royce Motor Group.'

'Shake the foundations?'

'That shouldn't be the case. After all, the cars produced are also sold on our mainland, which should be additional revenue for them!'

Liu Zhongfei frowned.

Xia Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, 'Secretary Liu, that's true, but this amount of money won't sway Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.'

'You don't know, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has more than a dozen car brands under its umbrella, including Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Rover, Morris, Wolseley, Riley, Jaguar, MINI, Land Rover, and more.

'Among them, Rolls-Royce and Bentley are positioned first and second, respectively, and their prices are also the highest, belonging to the top luxury car class.'

'The most expensive model of Rolls-Royce is more than ten times the price of my Tiangong car, the Shenyu generation. At the current exchange rate, it would cost 1.9 million Hong Kong dollars to sell one in Hong Kong.'

'The technical content is certainly beyond doubt, but do you think this kind of car can sell in the mainland?'

Liu Zhongfei couldn't help but shake his head helplessly and said, 'It won't sell...'

Even in Hong Kong, it would cost 1.9 million Hong Kong dollars for one, and this price far exceeded his expectations. He was certain that only the government could afford such a car!

And would the government buy such a car?

Xia Yu continued:

'Secretary Liu, the joint venture cars produced are destined to be unsalable, so why would Rolls-Royce Motor Cars waste financial, human and material resources to set up a joint venture factory in the mainland and give away its core technology?'

'In fact, selling at such a high price, the brand and technology premium accounts for a large part, so Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is also profitable by reducing the price of these models.'

'But the disadvantage of reducing the price is great, it will destroy the brand value system of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, which is the foundation of high returns. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is working hard to maintain it, so how could it cut itself off?'

Liu Zhongfei was silent, and couldn't help but sigh.

'You're right, it seems I don't know enough about Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.'

'Secretary Liu, don't be disappointed. In fact, if you think about it from another perspective, even if Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is willing to put up these two models for a joint venture, it may not necessarily be a good thing for Guangdong Province.'

Xia Yu smiled reassuringly.

Liu Zhongfei looked at Xia Yu in surprise: 'What do you mean, Mr Xia?'

'Guangdong Province has a very weak foundation!'

Xia Yu said calmly.

Liu Zhongfei froze for a moment, then suddenly realised what he meant and shook his head with a bitter smile, saying, 'I don't want to admit it, but it's true.'

'We still have a long way to go to catch up with developed countries abroad,'

Xia Yu said with emotion. 'Yes, the automotive industry is known as the crown of industry. An average car is assembled from more than 10,000 non-detachable independent parts, and a top-of-the-range car has even more, up to 20,000 parts,'

'And behind these parts, a strong industrial material system is needed to support them.'

'The more top-level the parts, the higher the requirements for various material indicators.'

'Rolls-Royce parts, except for some that are made in-house, are all bought. So even if a joint venture is set up on the mainland to build cars, the parts will still have to be imported. And as you know, the mainland's tariff rates and foreign exchange reserves are such that it is simply not realistic or necessary to assemble cars domestically on a large scale and import the parts.'

'The mainland's current industrial system as a whole is relatively backward. Being able to use a joint venture to increase the localization rate and raise the level of the automobile industry is a huge gain.'

'My personal suggestion is to target the Jaguar brand, which is under the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars group and has the largest production volume. The technology is very strong, and the rate of self-production of parts is high, which will be more useful for the mainland.'

'And the price positioning is also very appropriate.'

'Jaguar?'

Liu Zhongfei's gaze became a little absent-minded, and after a moment's thought, he nodded slowly.

'Mr Xia, thank you for your advice, then we'll take your advice and choose the Jaguar brand to talk about.'

'In the future, I'll need your help a lot!'

'No problem, it's my pleasure!'

Xia Yu replied without hesitation.

'Thank you very much!'

'Secretary Liu, you're too kind, I'll do whatever I can to help!'

Xia Yu chuckled lightly.

...

Not long after returning to the hotel, Xia Yu called Elena to his room. After a while of intimacy, the two sat on the sofa. Elena lay in Xia Yu's arms, showing a sweet smile of relaxation and comfort.

'Elena, this afternoon I talked with Secretary Liu of Guangdong Province about something involving the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Group.'

Elena smiled as she looked at Xia Yu's charming face and asked softly, 'Is it the matter you mentioned earlier, about getting Rolls-Royce Motor Cars to set up a joint venture on the mainland?'

'That's right.'

'...'

Xia Yu smiled and nodded, then told Elena the details in detail.

'Tomorrow you and I will go together. You will negotiate the general direction of the cooperation, just stick to the bottom line I mentioned. As for the details, when we get back to the UK, just let one of the company's vice presidents lead a team to negotiate.'

'Okay, I'll do as you say.'

After Elena finished speaking, she once again rested her head on Xia Yu's shoulder.

Xia Yu tilted his head slightly, inhaling Elena's hair fragrance, and suddenly turned around, pinning Elena down on the sofa...

The next morning, Xia Yu took Elena to meet Liu Zhongfei and Li Bin.

Elena showed her wisdom and competence, advancing and retreating appropriately during the negotiations, demonstrating excellent ability and accomplishment, and earning the sincere praise of Liu Zhongfei and Li Bin in the end.

After a morning of simple negotiations, the initial direction of cooperation was set, and the door to cooperation between the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Group and Yangcheng Automobile Factory was officially opened.

This was a good start, and it was completely under Xia Yu's control.

Xia Yu was originally planning to return to Hong Kong in the afternoon, but the two people who arrived from the north, exhausted from their journey, made Xia Yu adjust his plans again.

The visitors were none other than Sun Yucai, who had left his jurisdiction, and Chen Liyan, the director of the Rare Earth Office of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, who had come from the capital!

A person who was only 41 years old and on the same level as Sun Yucai!

From the age difference, it can be seen that the power behind Chen Liyan and Sun Yucai is completely not on the same level.

However, the head of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry in charge of the rare earth sector came directly south to find the door, which also made Xia Yu feel a sense of expectation for the concept he had previously proposed.

It is very likely that this time, the direction of the Ganzhou rare earth industry can be directly determined, and the situation of the rare earth industry on the mainland and even in the world can be changed!