A review of the auto industry executives who have fallen in the past three years: state-owned enterprises are the hardest hit, and there are also many new forces

Recently, Chen Hao, the former deputy general manager of Dongfeng Group, who had disappeared from the public eye for more than three months, made a public appearance, but his identity has become the deputy general manager of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Sales Co., Ltd.

Public information shows that Chen Hao was born in October 1970. He graduated from Zhejiang University with a major in foundry in 1992. In the same year, he joined Dongfeng Motor Foundry Plant No. 1 as a technician. He has never left Dongfeng Motor Group throughout his career. In 2020, he became the deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. and was regarded as one of the "Four King Kongs" under the then chairman of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd.

Among Dongfeng Group's many executives, Chen Hao is in charge of the three independent brands of Fengshen, Yipai and Nano. He is frequently on camera and often interviewed by various media. However, after this job adjustment, Chen Hao was directly demoted from a key member of the Dongfeng Group's leadership team to the deputy general manager of a third-level company under Dongfeng Motor Group, and his status plummeted.

In the past few years, Dongfeng Group has been facing a continuous anti-corruption storm, and the number of executives who have been dismissed is shocking, including those from Xiangyang Daan Automobile Testing Center, Dongfeng Design Institute, Dongfeng Renault, Dongfeng Nissan, etc. However, Chen Hao was only demoted three months after his disappearance, which shows from one side that his problem is not very serious.

But the corruption cases in other large state-owned automobile companies are more shocking.

On March 31, 2023, Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, was investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. Xu Heyi was not a technical person, but was parachuted into BAIC in 2002 and worked in BAIC Group for more than 20 years until he was investigated.

It is worth noting that the performance of BAIC Group's independent brands under Xu Heiyi's leadership is far from expectations. The entire group mainly relies on joint venture brands such as Beijing Benz for blood supply. In the field of new energy, it also started high and ended low, which is extremely inconsistent with its identity as a national team in car manufacturing.

Another person who was dismissed from his post was An Jin, the former chairman of JAC Automobile Group Holding Co., Ltd., who held a similar position to Xu Heyi. On April 2, 2024, An Jin was investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. An Jin was a veteran of JAC Automobile and had never left JAC Automobile during his career. He became the chairman of JAC Automobile Group in February 2012 and held the helm of JAC Automobile for 10 years until his retirement in 2021.

The list of leaders of large state-owned automobile groups who have been dismissed also includes Qi Yumin, the former chairman of Brilliance Automotive Group. In 2021, the Liaoning Provincial Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Qi Yumin for suspected bribery, embezzlement of public funds, and abuse of power by state-owned company personnel.

Qi Yumin is also a veteran in the automotive industry. He was transferred from the position of deputy mayor of Dalian to Brilliance Auto in December 2005 and served as chairman for 15 years until his retirement in March 2019. During his tenure, Qi Yumin made various comments on China's automotive industry many times. However, like BAIC Group, Brilliance Auto also mainly relies on joint ventures such as Brilliance BMW for blood transfusions. In the past two years, Brilliance's own brands have basically disappeared.

However, the influence of these fallen executives in the media and on the Internet is often not strong. The most high-profile and familiar to consumers as the head of a car company who has fallen is probably Yin Jiaxu, the former chairman of Changan Automobile.

Yin Jiaxu was born in 1956. He became the executive vice president of Changan Automobile in 1996, served as chairman from 2002 to 2007, and was investigated in 2021 for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. During his tenure as chairman of Changan Automobile, Yin Jiaxu was known as the "Three Yins" in the Chinese automobile industry together with Yin Mingshan, chairman of Chongqing Lifan, and Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Automobile, and was quite well-known.

SAIC and FAW, which have larger business scales, have also encountered relatively serious corruption problems.

In January 2024, Ye Huaming, director of the operation center of FAW-Audi Sales Co., Ltd., was investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and laws; in February, Yan Feng, general manager of the Audit and Legal Department of China FAW, was investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and laws.

On August 1, Chen Demei, former vice president of SAIC Group, was expelled from the party and his retirement benefits were canceled for serious violations of discipline and laws.

The official announcement pointed out that Chen Demei relied on the company to eat the company and the car to eat the car. He used the convenience of his position to seek benefits for others and illegally accepted huge amounts of property; he purchased goods from the unit run by his son at prices significantly higher than the market price, causing major losses to national interests, and sought benefits for others in the recruitment of employees.

Chen Demei has been the vice president of SAIC since 2012, and has been in office for more than a decade. Chen Demei's corrupt behavior is actually quite representative in the automotive industry.

China's automobile industry has achieved rapid development in recent years, with domestic brands accounting for more than 50% of the market share, and China has become the world's largest automobile exporter in 2023. The rapid development of the industry will inevitably lead to the expansion of personnel and interests, which will breed more corruption.

Of course, corruption is not limited to state-owned enterprises, but also occurs in private companies, with Xiaopeng Motors being a typical example.

At the beginning of 2023, Wang Fengying jumped from Great Wall Motors to Xiaopeng Motors as president. Subsequently, news of internal anti-corruption spread in the market. Li Feng, head of Xiaopeng Motors' procurement department, was suspended from his post and several employees were also investigated.

The corruption problem of Xiaopeng Motors mainly occurred in the supply chain. For a small new force like Xiaopeng Motors, the supply chain has always been the hardest hit area. According to media reports at the time, after Wang Fengying came to power, she told He Xiaopeng that the cost of a single seat of Xiaopeng Motors was inflated by 1,200 yuan. Before Wang Fengying came to power, the purchase price of parts of Xiaopeng Motors was higher than that of its peers for a long time, which became an important reason why Xiaopeng Motors has not been able to make a profit.

Ideal Auto also had similar problems. In 2022, a purchasing director surnamed Liu was arrested for "bribery by non-state employees". The total value of the four luxury cars owned by this person alone exceeded 15 million yuan. After the fall, two factory managers of the three Ideal Auto factories resigned voluntarily.

In the context of China's rapid development of the automobile industry, corruption is a fatal blow to automobile companies. Many state-owned enterprises have been inactive in terms of their own brands for a long time, and some manufacturers have invested tens of billions of dollars in a project but have yet to see results; some new forces manufacturers continue to raise funds but suffer losses all year round. It is hard to say that this has no direct relationship with corruption.

Fighting corruption is the biggest hurdle on the road to progress for China’s automobile industry. We must overcome it and have no choice but to overcome it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.