Changzhou Iveco Divorced Remarried and Abandoned Changjiang Passenger Bus to Switch to SAIC

On July 24, Iveco announced that it has reached a joint venture agreement with SAIC. The joint venture plans to acquire a 67% stake in heavy-duty commercial vehicle manufacturer Chongqing Hongyan Automobile Co., Ltd., and to invest 120 million euros in Chongqing to build a new production plant, of which Iveco will inject 40 million euros. The agreement is currently pending approval by the Chinese government.

In order to clear the biggest obstacles to join hands with SAIC, Iveco and Changzhou Yangtze River passenger vehicles have recently lifted the cooperation agreement – ​​Iveco has transferred to China 50% of the shares held by Iveco in Changzhou at the price of US$1, and lifted the passengers from the Yangtze River passenger car. Cooperation relationship.

Iveco parted ways with the Yangtze passenger car, and another case of “divorce and remarriage” of the Chinese auto industry finally came to an end.

Changzhou Iveco waits for reorganization

“The two parties have already dissolved their relations. Now is the follow-up of some of the follow-up work.” The relevant person of the Economic and Trade Commission of Changzhou told the reporter, “The relevant work is currently directly responsible by the relevant leaders of the municipal government and relevant information should be available soon.”

Iveco Changzhou told reporters that at present, they have nothing to do with Iveco, and even the "Changzhou Iveco" business name will not continue to use, the new business registration is ongoing.

At present, Italy's Iveco Motors has sold the intellectual property rights of related technologies to Changzhou Iveco. These technologies include the Iveco 391 series passenger car chassis, 12-meter series passenger cars, 8-meter series passenger cars and passenger car parts. This means that after dissolving the relationship, Changzhou Iveco can still produce products containing Iveco automotive technology.

An insider of Changzhou Iveco also revealed that the focus of the next step in Changzhou Iveco is to wait for other companies to restructure. It is reported that many companies have expressed their intentions and have conducted a certain degree of contact.

"Our foundation is not bad. This is a very good resource."

Iveco took a twist

In August 2005, Iveco filed a lawsuit against the High Court of Jiangsu Province and sued its joint venture partner Cheung Kong Bus Group and Sun Yuanlin, chairman of the group. According to Iveco, Sun Yuanlin authorized the transfer of a sum of money from the joint venture he had served as Chairman of the Board to the Changzhou Yangtze River Passenger Vehicle Group, which amounted to RMB 120.58 million, and Iveco requested to return the funds and interest.

Iveco sued the Yangtze River passenger bus to the court. This move aims to free up joint ventures with SAIC and Chongqing Zhongqi for a three-way joint venture.

As a major truck manufacturer in Europe, Iveco has always wanted to enter the Chinese engine and heavy truck field as soon as possible after entering China. After the outbreak of the Delong incident in 2004, SAIC, Chongqing Heavy Duty Truck and Iveco came together to prepare for the implementation of the three-party joint venture plan under the leadership of the Deputy Mayor of Chongqing Huang Qifan.

Iveco first proposed to withdraw from Changzhou Iveco joint venture company, and proposed the request for withdrawal. After unsuccessful, Iveco promoted the partner SAIC Group to propose a direct purchase of Changzhou Iveco China shares.

However, SAIC Group encountered a “soft nail” in Jiangsu Province during the acquisition of Iveco in Changzhou. Jiangsu Province requires SAIC to assume all the debts and liabilities of Changzhou Iveco, which would mean that SAIC Motor will spend hundreds of millions more cash to complete the acquisition. Obviously, it is reluctant to accept such conditions.

After trying all kinds of failures, Iveco, who was eager to withdraw himself, used the most antagonistic means. He then took the above partner to court.

Since then, things have been rapidly progressing. In September 2005, the relevant authorities in Changzhou stated that they agreed to divest Iveco. It also commissioned auditors and clearing agencies to evaluate the assets of the company and use the valuations and the shares held by Iveco as the basis for the foreign investor’s return.

Divorce and remarriage will become normal

Foreign-invested auto companies are adjusting their layout in the Chinese market, and some relatively weak partners will be victims of this adjustment. Divorce remarriage like Iveco will become the norm in China's auto market in the future.

At present, the resources for automobile cooperation have become increasingly apparent. In 2002, "Steam Automobile Reorganization" finally surfaced. Tianjin Automotive Group Corporation transferred 50.98% shares of the total share capital of Tianjin Xiali Co., Ltd. held by it to FAW. At the same time, Tianqi also transferred all 75% of the Chinese company’s equity owned by Huali Co., Ltd. to one of FAW. In fact, behind the "Tianqi First Auto Reorganization Case" is actually the Tianqi Automobile's cooperation with Toyota's quota to the FAW transfer, so there is only the future Tianjin FAW Toyota.

The Mercedes-Benz company in Germany and Yangzhou Yaxing cooperation case, but also because Mercedes-Benz company hopes to reach a cooperation agreement with BAIC and Fuqi, and several times reported that BAIC and Fuzhou acquired Yaxing Mercedes-Benz news, and behind it is actually Mercedes-Benz company Want to get out of Yaxing, free up the cooperation quota to cooperate with more powerful Beiqi or Fuqi.