Reporter Gong Mengze

　　The auto market is going down, and the blade is turning inward.

After Herbert Diess left the position of Volkswagen Group CEO last year, entering 2023, the high-level personnel changes of many mainstream car companies at home and abroad have become industry hotspots.

　　In January of this year, Akio Toyoda first announced his resignation as the president of Toyota Motor, which can be called the "change of defense of the century". The manager Chen Siying also announced that he would be the CEO of Wei brand; then Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle jointly announced the adjustment of the leadership team... If you count the two personnel changes before the Spring Festival in 2023, Li Pengcheng, the former assistant CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, joined Ahmad. With the appointment of Weta Technology as the CMO and Yi Han, the former CGO of the Radar brand, as the vice president of marketing for Xpeng Motors, the automotive industry has entered a period of active executive mobility.

　　In fact, there have been early signs of a "reshuffle" in the auto industry.

According to incomplete statistics from the "Securities Daily" reporter, more than 40 car companies will announce personnel changes in 2022, and a total of more than 130 positions have been adjusted, involving more than 120 car company executives.

Entering 2023, a number of auto companies, including multinational auto companies, self-owned brands, and new car manufacturers, have already changed 10 candidates for executive positions.

　　Zhang Fan, a partner of Deji Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility Industry, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the changes in the new four modernizations of automobiles and the impact of the epidemic have made major auto companies feel pressure.

Behind this wave of senior management personnel changes will involve the adjustment of corporate strategy and business.

　　According to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, the accelerated flow of high-level personnel between traditional car companies and new car manufacturers is a normal choice for companies in the development of the auto industry.

"Traditional car companies and new car manufacturers have their own advantages and disadvantages, and integrated development is the general trend. Especially new car companies are not familiar with the operating rules of the traditional car market. Only by introducing managers from traditional car companies can they help them better grasp the market. "

　　A number of car company executives intensively changed defenses

　　Since 2023, automakers, including multinational automakers, independent automakers, and new carmakers, have successively carried out a new round of high-level appointments, involving core business lines such as brands and sales. Small.

　　After more than 13 years, the head of the world's largest car company has changed.

On January 26, Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation held a board meeting and announced that Akio Toyoda would step down as the president of Toyota Motor Corporation and become the president of Toyota Motor Corporation. The appointment will be effective April 1.

　　Domestically, on January 14, Leap Motors announced that Zhang Guangyin would no longer serve as the company's vice president, and Cao Guanglin would resign as the company's vice chairman and chief financial officer; on January 30, Xiaopeng Motors announced that the former vice chairman and president of Great Wall Motor Manager Wang Fengying joined and took the post of president. He is fully responsible for the product planning, product matrix and sales system of Xiaopeng Motors, and reports to He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors.

　　Also on January 30, Great Wall Motors stated that Chen Siying, the former deputy general manager of Lynk & Co, had joined Great Wall Motors as CEO of the Wei brand and general manager of tank brand marketing, and reported to Li Ruifeng, chief growth officer of Great Wall Motors. .

　　On February 2, Changan Avita Technology announced that Li Pengcheng, the former assistant to the CEO of Xiaopeng, will serve as the company's vice president and chief marketing officer, and concurrently serve as the deputy general manager of the user development center, fully responsible for the company's brand marketing.

On February 6, Dongfeng Toutiao announced that the party committee of Dongfeng Company adjusted the leadership team members of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd.: Shi Jianxing was appointed as the deputy general manager of Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd.; Zhang Xiaofan was recommended as Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd. General Manager of the company.

　　"The new four modernizations of automobiles have brought about industrial changes and adjustments. In addition, in recent years, the sales volume of the industry has been under pressure, and the survival pressure of automobile companies has increased. Under the intertwined internal and external changes, personnel adjustments in automobiles have become extremely frequent." In Zhang Fan's opinion , due to the specific situation of each car company is different, the demand for personnel mobility is also different, but overall personnel adjustments are changing with the times.

　　Car companies began to "surge" on the organizational structure

　　The organizational reconstruction of the automobile industry is generally accompanied by an obvious market rule, that is, the worse the development momentum of the industry, the more frequent the personnel changes.

For example, in 2020, the downturn in the domestic auto market has triggered shocks in the executives of auto companies. In the first quarter of that year alone, nearly 30 executives in auto companies changed positions, of which 80% were vice presidents and above.

　　The past 2022 is considered to be the most difficult year in the past three years. Under the influence of multiple unfavorable factors such as the supply chain crisis, major car companies have also "operated" on the organizational structure to improve organizational reconstruction and operational improvement. On the agenda, and has initiated the company's internal reforms to cope with the new market situation.

　　Li Bin, chairman and CEO of Weilai Automobile, said in an internal letter at the end of 2022: "The work tasks in 2023 will increase a lot, but the company's resource investment will only increase slightly. To create an effective organization, team, process and project, it needs to be comprehensively sorted out and optimized."

　　Ideal Auto also blew the horn of reform. On the basis of the two horizontal physical departments of the Strategy Department and the Product Department, five new horizontal physical departments including the Commercial Department, the Supply Department, the Process Department, the Organization Department, and the Finance Department were added.

The reform of Xiaopeng Motors is the most thorough.

After the launch of the annual blockbuster G9, Xpeng made major adjustments to the company's operations, organizational structure, and product strategy, and established five virtual committees, including strategy and production-sales balance.

　　Great Wall Motors also carried out an organizational change centered on brand marketing at the end of 2022, implementing a dual-brand operation model for Wei and Tank.

　　At the same time, the talent iteration in the auto industry is accelerating. Compared with the continuous flow of executives and veterans of traditional car companies to new car companies around 2016, a new trend of talent flow is that new power talents are returning to traditional car companies.

　　Zhang Fan said that the outstanding executives of the new car-making forces have become compound talents who are well versed in traditional car manufacturing and new service concepts, and they can be called the first core competitiveness of car companies.

(Securities Daily)