Chapter 1237: Mitsui Securities discovered
"Behind it is the Island Automobile Association, but there must be a leader.'
'The ban by the Island Steel Association is too ridiculous. If the Island government has enough power over the steel industry, it would not have failed to regulate it one after another, causing the Island steel industry to become a depressed industry...'
In the office, Xia Yu crossed his legs, his eyes narrowed as he kept analysing in his mind. Finally, his thoughts became clearer and clearer, and he came up with a way to break the deadlock.
The island nation has now surpassed the United States and become the world's second largest steel producer after the Soviet Union.
As the saying goes, quantitative change leads to qualitative change. With such a large amount of steel production, the island nation's steel smelting technology has also made rapid progress.
So in this era, within the Asian context, the island nation's steel quality is indeed the best, and the cost performance is also the highest, and South Korea is not yet able to compare.
In order to ensure the quality of the cars produced by Tiangong Motors Group and to control production costs, the steel from the island country was still the first choice when the island country was unable to produce qualified steel with sufficient output.
South Korean steel, Taiwanese steel, and so on, were all second-rate choices.
The instigator behind the scenes should also be aware of this, so they started with the steel to curb the development of Tiangong Motors Group.
From this point of view, Xia Yu was right to set up an iron and steel company in Guangdong Province, but it would take some time for the company, named 'Huaxia Southern Iron and Steel Company', to grow and become effective.
And Xia Yu had not previously been involved in the iron and steel sector. The best way to accelerate the growth of Huaxia Southern Iron and Steel Company was to have a company with mature technology and mechanisms support and guide it one-on-one, just as the island country's Nippon Steel had assisted in the construction of mainland Baosteel.
Therefore, Xia Yu immediately decided to acquire more than one steel company directly in the island country, and break the blockade of the island country's Iron and Steel Association from within.
Moreover, steel is the cornerstone of industry. In the future, if he wants to compete with the island country's six major consortia in the industrial sector, without a strong steel company, he will still be stuck like he is now.
Suffering from someone else's iron and steel sector being stuck in the neck is enough for once, and he doesn't want to fall in the same place twice!
...
Chen Caijun's abilities and resources are limited, and he couldn't find out the details. Xia Yuke, on the other hand, is different.
After he mobilised his resources, it took less than a day.
At 10 o'clock the next morning, while he was looking at the information on the island's steel industry, a detailed investigation was delivered to him.
It took Xia Yuke 20 minutes to read through all the information, and his eyes gleamed with cold light.
The problem had been clearly investigated, and the culprit was the island's largest automobile company, the Toyota Motor Corporation!
In addition, Nissan Motor Group and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are also staunch supporters.
Under the call of these three, Honda R&D, Toyo Motor Industry, Isuzu Motors Limited and Mazda, etc. have responded one after another, and then mobilised their strength to force the steel industry to make a decision.
Toyota Motor Group is the core industry of the Mitsui Zaibatsu.
Nissan Motor Group, which is not far behind Toyota Motor Group in terms of strength, is the core pillar of the Fuji Zaibatsu.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the third oldest, and Honda R&D, the fourth oldest, are both core enterprises of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu.
The Toyo Motor Industry Group is a core enterprise of the Sumitomo Foundation.
The Isuzu Motors Group is a member of the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Foundation.
Mazda belongs to the Sumitomo Foundation.
So that's all six major foundations.
Automobile companies are the industrial pillars of major foundations, and they have a lot of say in their respective management committees. It is only normal that they can push the steel industry to make decisions.
After all, after a series of mergers and acquisitions and consolidations over the past few decades, the major steel companies on the island country are all owned by the six major consortia, leaving only some small and medium-sized steel companies that still exist independently or in association.
The reason for suppressing Tiangong Automobile Group is clear. Major car companies on the island country have seen the market's fervent pursuit of urban SUVs, so they have all embarked on research and development of this type of car. However, it will still be some time before mass production is possible, so they hope to suppress Tiangong Automobile Group jointly, delay its production, and prevent Tiangong Automobile Group from seizing market share.
...
Osaka, Sumitomo family.
The elderly Shinichi Sumitomo leisurely fed the koi in the fish pond with a plate of fish food.
Next to him, Kosuke Sumitomo asked in a low voice, 'Father, according to the time, Xia Yu should have already known about the trouble Tiangong Automobile Group is in, but I don't know what he's thinking, there's been no movement yet.'
Shinichi Sumitomo paused in his feeding motion, then continued to scatter the food, and lightly nodded, 'Mm!'
Kosuke Sumitomo was puzzled by his father's reply. He frowned and thought for a while, but still didn't understand whether his father had understood the meaning of his words.
After thinking about it, he asked his doubts, 'Father, do you think Xia Yu will come to us for help?'
'After all, in the island country, the only one who can solve his problem is us, and we are likely to help him.'
Shinichi Sumitomo glanced at Kosuke Sumitomo this time, shook his head slowly and said, 'I don't know either.'
'You don't need to worry too much. Of course it would be best if this works out, but even if it doesn't, our relationship with Xia Yu won't change for the worse. After all, before this, Sumitomo Metal Industries and Tiangong Automobile Group did not have a business relationship.'
'Mazda joined our Sumitomo Group, but in 1979, Ford bought 25% of the shares. Now the company is still run by the Matsuda family, and we have no direct relationship with them.'
'If Xia Yu wants to be hostile, then he should be hostile towards the Mitsui, Fuji and Mitsubishi consortia.'
Kosuke Sumitomo frowned slightly, and after a moment of thought, he nodded slowly: 'You are right.'
'I just feel that we cannot miss such a good opportunity. If Xia Yu is willing to ask for our help, we can gain his favour, and we can also bring a major customer to Sumitomo Metal Industries, deepening our cooperative relationship.'
Sumitomo Shinichi's expression was slightly serious, and he glanced at his son and said lightly,
"Kousuke, your attitude is wrong, don't take this matter so seriously, there is nothing we can do except wait for him to come to us.'
'If we go to him, the nature of the matter will change, and it will reflect badly on us if it gets out.'
'Anyway, the rise of his Tiangong Automobile Group will definitely have a certain impact on our country's automobile industry. We have only just met him, and we are not yet at a level where we would go against other consortia for his sake.'
'Let's just wait and see. He is not someone who will suffer losses. I'm looking forward to his reaction.'
'If we can go against those few companies, hehe...'
At this point, Sumitomo Kosuke seemed to feel that he was being too whimsical, so he laughed and said no more. He grabbed a handful of feed and scattered it on the water, attracting a large number of koi, which swarmed like a brocade flower cluster, competing for food.
...
And at Mitsui Securities.
A subordinate hurriedly came to the door of the vice president in charge of investment and mergers and acquisitions, Haneda Yohei, and knocked on his office door...