"Look at this!" Menendez said in a very unkind tone as he threw a document to Jewell.

Jewell took the document and glanced at it, and recognized that it was a quarterly financial report of a company. After a closer look, it was the quarterly financial report of Jaguar Land Rover.

"Sales have increased so much year-on-year? It is very rare for a luxury brand car to achieve such a growth." Jewell continued to look at it in surprise, and his expression suddenly changed after more than ten seconds.

"The sales of Range Rover in the Chinese market increased by 370%? 3.7 times in one quarter? How is this possible! This is not a hot dog on the roadside, this is a car, and it is a luxury car priced at more than 100,000 US dollars!"

Menendez snorted coldly and said: "I sent someone to inquire. The average monthly sales of Range Rover in the Chinese market is about more than 700 vehicles, which means 2,200 vehicles can be sold in a quarter. 3.7 times is more than 8,000 vehicles.

Don’t you think this number is very familiar to you?”

When Menendez said this, there was a trace of anger on his face: "Didn't you tell me that except for the United States, there is no place that can digest eight thousand Range Rover in one go?"

"Sir, there is absolutely no problem with my judgment. How can so many people in China afford a Range Rover? I guess this must be data fraud!" Jewell then defended:

"If the Chinese market can digest 8,000 Range Rovers in one quarter, then it was impossible to sell only 700 units a month before. Unless they suddenly have 8,000 rich people!"

Little did Jewell know that tens of thousands of multi-millionaires could emerge from any housing renovation project in the Pearl River Delta. Some projects could even produce thousands of billionaires.

Land Rover Range Rover was once known as the favorite of the nouveau riche. If you are a nouveau riche and don't buy a Range Rover, you will be sorry for your status.

Before 2008, when people mentioned nouveau riche, the first thing they thought of was coal bosses. But after 2008, when people mentioned nouveau riche, they thought mostly of demolished households.

There was once a joke about a young man in a certain village who couldn't find a partner because he was too poor. Then the village spray-painted the word "Hai" on the wall, and as a result, matchmakers from all over the country came.

"Getting rich by demolishing" is a special phenomenon. In fact, most of the demolished households cannot meet the standard of "getting rich". At most, they just want to improve their living and housing conditions. Some demolished households still need to pay for their own money before they can buy a new house.

live.

However, in economically developed areas, it is obviously much more common to get rich through demolition. For example, in the Pearl River Delta and Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, large-scale housing reform has driven the development of cities and created a large number of wealthy indigenous people.

Some of these people received compensation for the entire building after the demolition, and then lived a life of rent-sharing every day; some took the money directly and became multi-millionaires or billionaires in an instant; and some were village collectives.

If the demolition money is used for investment, the annual interest will be enough for the villagers to divide it into dozens or even millions.

For this group of people, buying a luxury brand car is completely within the economic affordability.

Li Weidong targeted this group of customers.

The customer base of luxury brand cars is relatively fixed. Generally speaking, there are only so many rich people, and there are only so many people who can afford luxury cars. Looking at the world, 8,000 Range Rovers can be digested in a short period of time.

Yes, there are only demolition households in China.

Naturally, land expropriation occurs abroad, and households are relocated, and even the compensation payments are very high. However, land expropriation compensation in other countries is difficult to make a large number of people rich overnight.

For example, when Foxconn built a panel factory in Wisconsin, the United States, it expropriated a piece of 147 acres, or about 900 acres of land. The landowner received US$7 million in compensation and suddenly became a rich man.

But this landlord originally owned 9,000 acres of land, which means he only sold one-tenth of the land. He was a big landowner, and after selling 900 acres, he still had 8,100 acres in hand. And the benefits of land expropriation are also

Basically, it was all occupied by this landlord, and no one else had anything to do with it.

How many luxury cars can this landlord afford to buy even if his family members have two cars each?

The private ownership of land abroad has concentrated land in the hands of a few landlords. When expropriating land, you only need to negotiate with the landlords for land compensation. Land expropriation can only make a few people rich. For example, those who have tens of thousands of acres of land in their hands

Landowners can build a big factory by just selling a tenth of the land.

There are no shantytown renovation projects in the United States. What they call "villages in the city" eventually turn into slums where everyone is shot and drugged.

Some countries in Western Europe, as well as Japan and South Korea in Northeast Asia, have carried out some shantytown renovation projects in urban villages. However, their shantytown renovations are not like China's complete demolition and re-planning, and then the construction of high-rise buildings and various foundations.

facility.

Housing renovation projects in Western European countries are mainly about repairing and renovating old buildings. For example, France often provides housing renovation subsidies. Residents can apply for subsidies from the government when they renovate their own houses. This subsidy will definitely not generate millions of dollars.

Rich man.

Another example is the shed renovation in Germany. You need to find a professional cleaning company to deeply clean the exterior walls of the building, clean up all the putty accumulated from the Bismarck era, and perform some antibacterial and deodorizing treatments. Then you are done. Rely on cleaning.

Walls can't make millionaires.

Housing renovation in Japan and South Korea mainly involves repairing the appearance of old houses and demolishing illegal buildings. It also does not involve large-scale demolition of houses to build new ones.

Japan is in an earthquake zone and is not suitable for building high-rise buildings. If the houses are built too low, developers will not make much profit. Coupled with the real estate bubble of the year, developers naturally have little interest in housing renovation. Japan

As a developer, it's fine to build one or two high-end apartment buildings occasionally, but don't even think about building an entire community.

South Korea also has a large number of urban villages, and various private buildings in the urban villages are built randomly. The original one-story buildings can be added to three or four floors, causing various safety hazards. This is very similar to the urban villages in Chinese cities.

The South Korean government also knows that urban villages should be renovated, but these urban villages cannot be demolished. South Korea's unique chaebol economy has caused the government to lose its leadership in shantytown renovation.

The chaebol-led shantytown renovation project is naturally unwilling to pay more compensation, and the demolished households want more compensation. In the end, no one can agree, so the demolition will not be carried out. The residents continue to live in the same place, and the chaebol finds a vacant land in the suburbs to build.

From time to time, the government sends people to demolish privately built buildings, build them again after demolishing them, and then demolish them after they are built.

Generally speaking, there is no such thing as a good thing in foreign countries where shantytown reform creates a bunch of rich people. Those little foreigners don't understand China's national conditions. When they see the big "demolition" on the wall, they will think that this is China's unique graffiti culture.

.

So no matter how hard Menendez and Jewell tried, they couldn't understand why China suddenly had 8,000 luxury car customers. But what is certain is that their plan to force Li Weidong to make compensation failed again.

Jewell could leave as he did last time and continue the labor movement in another place. However, Menendez is a locally elected congressman and cannot run away. He promised the workers to fight for compensation.

If he couldn't get a penny, his reputation would be severely damaged.

Regarding Menendez's political career, he gave instructions: "The eight thousand Range Rovers have been sold, and we have lost our bargaining chip. You should contact the employer immediately and say that we can handle the anti-theft report from the Road Safety Bureau, but

They also have to show some respect to the workers, and they can’t afford not to pay a penny!”

"Then what is the bottom line of our negotiation?" Jewell asked.

Menendez thought for a moment and then said: "We have to give the workers a month's salary!"

In Menendez's view, since he has lost his bargaining chip, compensation of US$20,000 per capita is definitely impossible. If the employer can compensate for one month's salary, it can be regarded as an explanation to the workers. Less is better than

There's no need to force it! If they really don't get a penny back, then the workers will definitely have to settle accounts with themselves.

…

"Mr. Li, the union representatives have just contacted us. They are willing to lower their demands. The latest conditions proposed by the union are that you only need to pay workers two months' salary. I think there is still room for negotiation." A lawyer in the United States will give the latest information.

The progress was reported to Li Weidong.

"Two months' salary? Impossible! Six hundred dollars for each person, for three consecutive months." Li Weidong set out his own conditions.

"Well, I'm afraid the union won't agree to this. According to my experience in dealing with the United Auto Workers, they are greedy. And it's hard for Congressman Menendez to explain to the workers such a small amount of compensation," the lawyer said.

.

"Then don't ask him to explain, let's just change someone else." Li Weidong smiled slightly, and then said: "He is not the only American congressman. Some politicians are willing to do this kind of thing that can increase their reputation and attract workers' votes.

."

The lawyer is also a smart man, and he immediately replied: "I understand what you mean, and I will go find a suitable candidate right away!"

The American market is still very popular for luxury brand cars. Even if they are not produced in the United States, this market cannot be lost.

Therefore, Li Weidong is willing to make some concessions and pay some appropriate compensation, which can be regarded as a step forward for each other and can continue to maintain the US market.

It's just that Li Weidong doesn't plan to give this favor to Menendez.

Distributing money, no matter how much you give, can win over people's hearts. There are many politicians in the United States who are willing to do this as a favor.

…

Menendez had been waiting for news about the negotiations. When his cell phone rang and saw it was Jewell, Menendez couldn't wait to answer the call.

"How is it? Did the employer reply? Did they promise compensation?" Menendez asked immediately.

Jewell on the other side of the phone said angrily: "Sir, haven't we reached a consensus before that I will be responsible for the negotiations? Why do you still find other people to contact the employer? And you have reached an agreement with the employer!"

"What did you say? What agreement was reached with the employer?" Menendez was a little at a loss.

"Louis Gordon is one of yours, right? He negotiated with the management on behalf of the workers and agreed to the management's conditions." Jewell replied.

"Lewis Gordon? State Senator?" Menendez felt something bad in his heart.

This Luis Gordon is a politician from the same party as Menendez. The two belong to different factions and were once rivals within the party. However, Menendez eventually won the primary election within the party and then had a chance.

To step onto a higher political stage. From this perspective, the two are still political enemies.

So Menendez immediately explained; "Although Gordon and I are in the same party, we are not the same boss, and we are not affiliated with each other. What exactly has he done?"

Jewell explained; "He went to negotiate with the employer and obtained a compensation of 1,800 yuan for each worker, which was paid in three months, which is 600 yuan per month."

"This is much lower than our conditions. 1,800 yuan is not enough for half a month's salary for auto workers! We need to compensate the workers for at least one month's salary!" Menendez said.

"But the employer did not agree to our conditions! The employer chose to cooperate with Gordon. Gordon is also a politician of your party, and he also has the ability to mobilize your party's resources." Jewell paused and then said: "Menendez

Sir, there is a traitor among you, and you have lost this battle!"

"Lost?" Menendez was stunned for a moment, suddenly seemed to realize something, and then shouted loudly into the phone: "How can you admit defeat? But you came to me to ask me to help you win.

The employer is putting pressure! I could have done nothing, but I blocked my reputation to help you, and now you have to give in easily!"

"Mr. Menendez, don't think that you are so great. When you were willing to help me, didn't you also hope to get the votes of the auto workers? We are just using each other, and no one owes anything to the other!"

Jewell looked like he was about to fall out, and then said: "What's more, this failure was caused by your internal disunity. If Lewis Gordon hadn't suddenly appeared to disrupt the situation, I would have already negotiated with the management.

Already.

Jewell obviously wants to shirk responsibility, which is easy to understand. If he doesn't find a scapegoat, he will have to take the blame himself!

After ending the call, Menendez leaned back in his chair in despair. For him, the intervention of political opponents from the same party was obviously the worst outcome.
To be continued...