Nearly 100 executives changed in half a year. When will the intensive personnel adjustments in the automotive industry end?

In recent years, as the scale of China's automobile market continues to expand, in order to achieve better development in the country, major joint ventures, independent and even some emerging automobile brands have formulated new target plans for the Chinese market and actively adjusted their internal structures, including business integration, establishment of new business units, personnel adjustments, etc., to better adapt to the development needs of the Chinese automobile market.

Among them, in terms of personnel adjustments, according to relevant statistics, in 2015, there were 118 changes in the positions of senior executives of domestic automobile companies. In 2016, there was a slight decrease, with about 70 senior executives being adjusted. In 2017, the changes became more frequent. According to incomplete statistics from Gasgoo, in the first half of 2017 alone, nearly 100 senior executives in the domestic automobile industry changed, exceeding the number of the whole year of last year. Looking at specific automobile companies, Dongfeng and FAW made the most frequent adjustments, followed by BAIC, Changan, Toyota, and Volvo, and many positions were related to market sales and brand communication. The specific changes are shown in the table below:

Dongfeng's personnel changes lasted throughout the first half of the year, and FAW welcomed intensive adjustments in June

As can be seen from the table, personnel changes almost occurred throughout the first half of 2017 at Dongfeng Motor. In February, due to the "independence" of Venucia, Dongfeng Nissan made a major personnel adjustment. Four senior executives, including Xu Jianming, deputy director of the Technical Center of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, Gao Guolin, director of the Financial Accounting Headquarters of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, Ma Lei, director of the Dealer Support Department of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, and Toyota Taiji, full-time deputy director of the Product Planning Headquarters of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, were transferred to Dongfeng Venucia Automobile Company as deputy general managers. Zhou Xianpeng, vice president and member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, was appointed as general manager, jointly "escorting" Venucia.

Later in late March and early April, Dongfeng Company made a major adjustment internally, including Yang Qing taking up the position of deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, FAW "veteran" An Tiecheng being transferred to Dongfeng as deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor, former Dongfeng Motor Corporation deputy general managers Tong Dongcheng and Ouyang Jie both retiring, former Dongfeng Motor deputy general manager Qiu Xiandong becoming member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of FAW Group, and large-scale personnel adjustments being made to the technical center.

In June, Dongfeng Motor once again carried out a "major reshuffle" of its senior management, and this personnel adjustment involved several senior executives in the joint venture and independent sectors. The most notable of these was the position changes of Liu Weidong and An Tiecheng - Liu Weidong, member of the Standing Committee of the Dongfeng Motor Party Committee and deputy general manager, will no longer be in charge of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Hongtai Automobile Co., Ltd., but will continue to be in charge of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicles, Dongfeng Yulon Automobile Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Motor's international business, while An Tiecheng, who has just been appointed as member of the Standing Committee of the Dongfeng Motor Party Committee and deputy general manager, will succeed Liu Weidong as chairman of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. This move is considered to be the official end of Dongfeng Motor's 16-year "Liu Weidong era" and the beginning of the "An Tiecheng era".

In addition, the change of ownership of Fengshen is also a major highlight of this personnel adjustment. As the "big brother" of Dongfeng Group's independent sector, Dongfeng Fengshen has carried the hope of revitalizing Dongfeng's independent sector since its establishment. However, after Fengshen achieved a good result of a year-on-year increase of 49.5% in 2016, it has stagnated somewhat in 2017, with sales in the first five months being only 56,653 vehicles, basically the same as last year. Perhaps because of this, Dongfeng decided to let Liu Hong, the deputy general manager who had just been transferred from FAW to Dongfeng Yueda Kia, replace Li Chunrong to take charge of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle, that is, Dongfeng Fengshen's business sector, because Liu Hong has worked in Dongfeng Technology Center, Dongfeng Honda Engine, Dongfeng Honda Automobile, Dongfeng Yueda Kia and other sectors, and has rich experience from technology to marketing to manufacturing, which may be expected to enhance Dongfeng Fengshen's brand power and quality power.

As for FAW Group, in addition to the transfer of "veteran" An Tiecheng to Dongfeng in April, it also welcomed Dongfeng's capable general Qiu Xiandong, successfully realizing the "talent exchange" between the two major automobile groups. In addition, FAW also ushered in a large-scale personnel adjustment in early June. Qin Huanming, chairman of two peer companies, FAW Xiali and FAW Car, applied for resignation and no longer held any position in the company. At about the same time, there was news that FAW-Volkswagen Audi would carry out large-scale personnel adjustments, involving the vice president level, covering multiple departments such as products, sales, and marketing. Yu Qiutao, deputy general manager of the sales division of FAW-Volkswagen Audi, said frankly: All personnel changes are in the group plan and are normal job changes.

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.