Dongfeng aggressive expansion

Dongfeng Motors has been conservative in its style of work and has been performing frequent actions recently. Following the signing of a contract with T Engineering AB (hereinafter referred to as “T Company”) for the acquisition of 70% of its shares, it also signed a joint venture contract with the GETRAG International Corporation in Beijing for a joint development agreement on low-torque DCT. In addition, Dongfeng started to frequently use domestic acquisitions.

However, these claims have not yet been officially confirmed by Dongfeng and Fuqi.

As the “most profitable automobile central enterprise”, Dongfeng has been lackluster in mergers and acquisitions. It is reported that there are two factions within the company, Zhu Shaoshou, Liu Weidong and other young guards have been the main mergers and acquisitions. Today, Qualified Traker, the acquisition of T Company, and the reorganization of Fujian Automobile, these big actions in the eyes of the outside world have only opened the prelude to the expansion of Dongfeng County, and also heralded the "Zhao Zhuang School"-led Dongfeng to a more radical expansion. Strategy.

Small cost to test the waters overseas <br> <br> end of last year, Dongfeng began to participate in bidding for Saab assets, also contacted the incumbent T's CEO Klas Lundgren. According to the written materials provided by Dongfeng, Dongfeng signed a basic agreement for equity acquisition with Company T on December 8, 2011. As a representative of the Dongfeng Shaoxing faction, Zhu Fushou’s personal visit to Sweden also showed his emphasis on this overseas acquisition.

Dongfeng’s acquisition plan is implemented in two phases: early completion of the acquisition of 70% of T’s shares and completion of the remaining 30% within two years. In respect of the purchase amount, Dongfeng has not disclosed it yet.

T company is located in the Innovatum Science Park in Trollhattan, Sweden. After Saab Automobile went bankrupt, the subsidiary Saab Power was demolished. On January 2 this year, it was reorganized into a T engineering company. At present, the company has 32 employees. Its main research areas include internal combustion engines, hybrid vehicles, pure electric vehicles, transmission systems and chassis control systems, and many years of experience in the production and development of automotive software and electronic products.

Starting from the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Automotive Technology Center and T Company have conducted in-depth cooperation on three technical projects. Dongfeng Motor has promised to further expand overseas R&D projects on the basis of T Company, and expand the development of drivetrains and vehicle models from the field of electronic control.

However, according to a person familiar with Saab's bankruptcy process, 32 engineers of company T have inherited part of Saab's power electronic control and hybrid technology, but it is not a core technical staff that is still a question mark, and the purchase price is also a “small cost”. Before these 32 people, they mainly engaged in the Swedish localization adaptation project of the general Epsilon II platform, and did not have the vehicle development capability.

According to its introduction, the Swedish National Electric Vehicle Company (NEVS, chairman of Guoneng Bio-Power Generation Group Co., Ltd.), which is part of the China-Japan Electric Vehicle Alliance, has acquired Saab Power as a whole. In addition, Saab has established a number of key independent portals before the bankruptcy. LeaNova and CombiTech of the technology "Dream Team" all made T companies discount some of their fineness.

However, Dongfeng side believes that "through the successful acquisition of T company, Dongfeng has a world-class, complete electronic control team, so that Dongfeng can be among the world's advanced level in the commercial development of electronic control of the vehicle and powertrain. ”

Obviously, what the Dongfeng valued was the company T's experience in electric control. In the automotive R&D, body electronics and electronic control units occupy a very important position. At the same time, they are technical bottlenecks that are difficult to break through by their own brand manufacturers.

After the completion of the acquisition, Company T will become Dongfeng’s first overseas R&D team and R&D team, mainly providing electronic control and other technologies for the Dongfeng passenger car and commercial vehicle business.

At the beginning of this year, Dongfeng Automotive Technology Center and T Engineering Co., Ltd. cooperated in three technical projects. Dongfeng also plans to expand the scope of overseas research and development on the basis of the T plant company, from the expansion of electronic control to the development of drive systems and vehicle platforms. Currently, T Company, which has obtained support from Dongfeng, has begun to recruit large-scale Swedish engineers, especially Saab's excellent engineers, and even several cases of “Saab heritage” that were broken up after bankruptcy were dug up.

The greater significance of the formal announcement of the overseas acquisition of T Company lies in the release of a clear signal: Dongfeng Motor, which has not had mergers and acquisitions for many years, has reopened the gate.

M & A gate restart <br> <br> since 2002 Jiangsu Yueda, Hyundai Kia reorganization, Dongfeng Motor few M & A initiatives. The current chairman of Dongfeng Motor Xu Ping has been conducting all aspects of Dongfeng's work since 2005. His consistent low-key and robust style has also become the style of Dongfeng's actions.

In particular, after the failure to invest 2 billion yuan to participate in Hafei in 2008, the Dongfeng decision-making layer headed by Xu Ping was more conservative and cautious in its attitude towards mergers and acquisitions.

At the beginning of last year, Dongfeng two Shaoxing representative Zhu Fushou and Liu Weidong were transferred back to headquarters to serve as general managers and deputy general managers respectively. As the Young Zhuang leaders gradually came to the forefront, Dongfeng began to make efforts on mergers and acquisitions and began to selectively restructure and merge according to strategic needs.

At the Global Automotive Forum in September this year, Zhu Fushou, general manager of Dongfeng Motor, stated: “The reorganization (southeast) issue has not yet been confirmed. Dongfeng has always maintained an open attitude towards reorganization, and it has also maintained a prudent and steady style.”

He pointed out that in the case of micro-growth, the willingness of some weak and small enterprises to unite and reorganize will also increase, and opportunities for some large companies to acquire resources will increase, and mergers and reorganizations will increase.

The Dongfeng Shaozhuang School’s voice on strengthening autonomy through mergers and acquisitions gradually gained approval from the decision-making level. Xu Ping, chairman of Dongfeng Motor, said at the launch of the Dongfeng Limited New Mid-Term Business Plan in July last year: “The government supports the reorganization of the auto industry. Of course, we must conscientiously implement the national industrial policy for automobile restructuring. As the leader of Dongfeng Motor Corporation It is increasingly felt that the growth of our market capacity cannot keep up with the changes brought by the market and the challenges our business has brought us. This also means that the Dongfeng needs to be reorganized."

In fact, this change in the decision-making layer has been foreshadowed as early as 2010. One reorganization case that is easily overlooked is that Dongfeng achieved a joint venture and cooperation with Taiwan Yulon Group in 2010 through the restructuring of Dongfeng Hangcha.

Last year, after Zhu Fushou took office, Dongfeng began to implement the "grand autonomy" strategy. Immediately thereafter, Dongfeng's own brand released the "dry" D300 plan. According to the plan, by 2016, the total sales volume of Dongfeng's own independent brand will reach 3 million, including not only the passenger car but also the large commercial vehicle segment.

In fact, Dongfeng Motors has so urgently reorganized the blessings of the auto industry, especially Southeast China Auto, which chooses to produce cars. It also hopes to further expand its own brand camp and help Dongfeng’s “autonomy” strategy.

Immediately afterwards, Dongfeng’s reorganization of Fuqi and Chuanqi’s rumors was rampant, and the most promising case under Dongfeng’s “grand autonomy” strategy was the reorganization with Fuqi.

Seek southeast <br> <br> Fu steam in an earlier restructuring plan, first saw the Dongfeng Fu steam under the passenger car joint venture South East Motor, and want to embrace to hire, to become Dongfeng brand passenger car project Helpful supplements.

However many things are good. The signing ceremony of Dongfeng’s reorganization of Fuzhou, which was originally scheduled for September 17, was suspended on the previous day.

Subsequently, Dongfeng Group insiders confirmed on the phone that the restructuring negotiations with Fuqi had indeed reached a critical stage. “The basic framework for reorganization has been set, and it will not be too far from the formal contract.” An important part of the framework agreement is that in the initial stage of integration, Dongfeng may account for 20% to 40% of the shareholders' South, and when the latter's production and sales reach 300,000 units, Dongfeng’s shareholding will increase to 60%.

Dongfeng and Fuqi originally planned to sign the contents of the main locked in two aspects: First, the object of reorganization is mainly Fudan's Southeast passenger car and passenger car business segment, and Fuzhou's Fujian Daimler, New Longma Automobile and other commercial vehicles. The business sector is not within the scope of this reorganization; secondly, after the reorganization, the chairman of the southeast automobile is sent by Fuqi, but the general manager is from Dongfeng. In addition, Dongfeng will send more than 30 people to the key management positions of Southeast Automotive.

In July of this year, Xu Ping, chairman of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Zhu Fushou, general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, Zhou Wenjie, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and others met with the provincial governor of Fujian Province in Wuhan and reached preliminary agreement on cooperation.

In August, the delegation of Dongfeng Motor inspected the overall business development and financial status of Fuqi Group and formed a memorandum of cooperation. After the talks, Dongfeng Motor Group and the Fujian Provincial Government reached an initial intention to obtain the priority of restructuring the blessing.

However, the attitude of Lian Xiaoqiang, Chairman of Fuzhou Automobile Group, added uncertainties to the original successful reorganization negotiations. At the beginning of September, Lian Xiaoqiang said at the International Forum on the Development of China's Automobile Industry: “Let them continue to pass on the rumors of Dongfeng’s restructuring of the blessings of the blessings, just as BAIC had to reorganize the blessings of the blessings of the city.”

In addition, Mitsubishi’s agreement was also a reorganization of the Southeast. The current shareholders of Southeast Automotive are Fuqi Group, Taiwan’s “China Motor” and Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors, and the three parties hold 50%, 25% and 25% respectively. However, because Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Corporation jointly hold approximately 14% of the shares of China Motors, Mitsubishi holds a total of approximately 28.5% of Southeast Motor, and is the second largest shareholder of Southeast Motor.

In this regard, Guotai Junan analyst Zhang Xin believes that this type of government-led restructuring, from companies, shareholders to the government there is a multi-game, even if the signing of the agreement can smoothly enter the substantive operation is still a question mark.

In any case, the Dongfeng decision-makers clearly have reached an agreement on expansion and reorganization. On the signing ceremony of the joint venture between GETRAG International and Oct. 22, Dongfeng Motor executives all arrived to help out. This also means that Dongfeng Motor will go further on the expansion road in the future