In the first half of the year, under the impact of the "price war," many automakers fell into a state of sluggishness. In this situation, automakers have accelerated their electric transformation and launched new products on the one hand, and carried out internal reforms and organizational optimization on the other, striving to achieve a comprehensive breakthrough at this stage in order to cope with the more competitive auto market in the second half of the year.

Below, Auto Door Network takes a look at some recent personnel changes in the auto industry.

Polestar On June 5th, Chen Siying, the Chief Operating Officer of Polestar Technologies (the operating entity of Polestar in China), was transferred after only five months in office, and his position was taken over by Qin Peiji, Deputy General Manager of Geely Auto Group Sales Company, who will be responsible for the sales, channel development, and marketing business segments of Polestar Technologies. This personnel adjustment coincided with the risk of Polestar's delisting. From May 21st to June 5th this year, Polestar's share price has been below $1 for 11 consecutive days. According to Nasdaq market rules, companies whose shares trade below $1 for 30 consecutive trading days will receive a warning. If the warned company fails to take corresponding measures to raise its share price within 90 days of the warning, it will be declared to cease trading. This is the biggest crisis moment for Polestar since its listing. The direct reason for the continuous decline in Polestar's share price is its weak sales growth and continuous losses. From 2020 to 2023, Polestar's global sales were 10,200, 29,000, 51,500, and 54,600 units respectively. This figure is far from sufficient for an automaker that wants to establish a foothold in the new energy market. Perhaps due to considerations of corporate survival crisis, Polestar was forced to entrust its domestic business to a more experienced person in the automotive industry. From the results, the person Polestar chose is Qin Peiji. Whether Qin Peiji can lead Polestar to turn the tide remains to be seen in future performance.

Dongfeng Group On June 11th, according to the official website of Dongfeng Company, Dongfeng Motor once again welcomed personnel changes. From the official leadership team structure diagram, it can be seen that the leadership team of Dongfeng Motor Group has increased by two people, with the addition of Liu Yanhong, Director and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., and Peng Yuanpu, Deputy General Manager and Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. The leadership team has increased from seven to nine, with each executive having their own strengths. For Dongfeng Group, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Dongfeng Group has multiple independent and joint venture brands, such as Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Honda, Dongfeng Infiniti, Dongfeng Citroen Peugeot Automobiles,Lantu Auto, Dongfeng Fengshen, Dongfeng New Energy, and Dongfeng Fengxing. Among them, joint venture brands are the main source of sales for Dongfeng Motor, with Dongfeng Nissan and Dongfeng Honda accounting for the majority. However, in the past two years, the market share of Japanese cars in the domestic market has gradually shrunk. The lack of new energy products that meet market expectations is the main reason for the decline in sales of Japanese cars. Ariya is currently the only pure electric vehicle of Dongfeng Nissan, while Dongfeng Honda has slightly more pure electric vehicles, including e:NS1 and e:NS2, but the sales of these models are not good. Therefore, the introduction of fresh blood into the leadership team may accelerate the pace of new energy transformation of Dongfeng Group.

XPeng Motors On June 17th, XPeng Motors announced on its official Weibo account that Candice Yuan Tingting had joined the XPeng team as Senior Director of Autonomous Driving Products. Subsequently, He Xiaopeng, the founder of XPeng Motors, also congratulated Yuan Tingting on her arrival on Weibo. According to media reports, Yuan Tingting graduated from the Zhu Kezhen College of Zhejiang University and has worked at the Zhejiang Maritime Bureau, the new energy vehicle smart travel platform Pandauto, and later joined Alibaba DAMO Academy as the head of the autonomous driving business. Upon her arrival, Yuan Tingting will replace Liu Yilin, the previous Senior Director of Autonomous Driving Products at XPeng Motors. This personnel change caused quite a stir at the time. Over the past year, XPeng Motors has undergone large-scale organizational restructuring, with important internal smart driving teams also being adjusted multiple times, and many business leaders leaving, leading to much skepticism about XPeng Motors. As we all know, smart driving is XPeng's most important new energy label, and the role of team leaders is quite important, requiring both familiarity with the business and the ability to represent the company when necessary. Judging from Yuan Tingting's work experience, her abilities are undoubted, and she is indeed a suitable candidate who is expected to help XPeng's smart driving reach new heights.

SAIC Motor On July 10th, SAIC Motor announced that Chen Hong, Chairman of SAIC Motor, had retired due to age and resigned from his position as Chairman and other positions. The board of directors elected Wang Xiaoqiu, a company director, as Chairman of the eighth board of directors, and appointed Jia Jianxu as President of the company, with a term consistent with the current board of directors. It is worth mentioning that Wang Xiaoqiu, the successor of SAIC Motor, has also reached retirement age. However, with the previous two chairmen of SAIC Motor, Hu Maoyuan and Chen Hong, both retiring at the age of 63, following the same delayed retirement strategy, Wang Xiaoqiu may retire in 2027. It is speculated that the reason why SAIC Motor did not directly appoint a younger leader is that the company is currently in a period of internal and external difficulties and needs an "old guard" to stabilize the group for three to four years as a transition, ensuring that SAIC Motor can navigate the turbulent auto market smoothly in the future. At present, most of the nine companies under SAIC Motor are facing a decline in sales, with SAIC-GM and SAIC Passenger Vehicle being the most severely affected. In terms of electrification, although SAIC Motor has made some achievements, it is still far from enough in the volatile new energy market. Therefore, in the current critical period of transformation, choosing an experienced leader to control the situation is the most suitable path for SAIC Motor.

Dongfeng Citroen On July 15th, Dongfeng Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. held a cadre announcement meeting, and Zheng Hongyi, the Minister of the Party Committee Organization Department of Dongfeng Company, announced the decision to adjust the leadership team of Dongfeng Citroen: Song Hanming was recommended to concurrently serve as General Manager of Dongfeng Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd.; Chen Bin was no longer serving as General Manager of Dongfeng Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. The appointment and removal of relevant positions will be handled in accordance with relevant regulations. Dongfeng Citroen, a representative of French cars, has two major brands under its umbrella: Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen. It once reached a peak annual sales volume of 705,000 units in 2015. After a brief period of high performance, Dongfeng Citroen's sales began to decline year after year. By 2020, annual sales had dropped to just 50,200 units. Chen Bin was the representative of a younger generation of leaders who took up the challenge during Dongfeng Citroen's historically low sales year. Under Chen Bin's leadership, Dongfeng Citroen implemented the "Yuan+" revitalization plan and achieved an annual sales volume of 127,000 units in 2022, temporarily rescuing Dongfeng Citroen from the brink of collapse. Nowadays, Chen Bin's move to FAW Group is seen as recognition and affirmation of his past achievements. And before the successor Song Hanming is a Dongfeng Citroen in urgent need of change. In recent years, French cars have become less and less well-known in the domestic market, and Dongfeng Citroen's slow pace of electrification transformation has put it on the brink of a cliff. The next few years will be a time of great change in the auto market, and there is not much time left for Dongfeng Citroen in the domestic market.

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