Recently, after Wang Xiaoqiu became the new chairman of SAIC Motor Group, SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC General Motors both ushered in a major change of defense. Next, the possible personnel arrangements are as follows: Zhuang Jingxiong, general manager of SAIC-GM, is about to be transferred after one year and three months, and it is rumored to go to SAIC Anji Logistics; Lu Xiao, executive vice president of Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center, will take over from Zhuang Jingxiong as the general manager of SAIC-GM; Haitao Xue, a member of the Executive Committee of SAIC-GM-Wuling, was transferred to the position of Vice President of Sales of SAIC-GM, and took over Lu Yi, who took up his new post in August last year, and the latter was transferred back to the Group. Cai Bin, assistant to the president of SAIC, who was appointed as the deputy general manager of SAIC-GM 15 years ago, has returned, and his latest post is the party secretary of SAIC-GM.
At the same time, in addition to Tao Hailong, who has previously announced that he will take over as the general manager of SAIC Volkswagen, Yu Jingmin, the current party secretary and executive deputy general manager of sales and marketing of SAIC Volkswagen Co., Ltd., will be transferred to the party secretary and first deputy general manager of SAIC Passenger Cars, while Park Chunxu, the current chief marketing officer of SAIC Passenger Cars, will be transferred to SAIC International to take charge of overseas marketing.
In addition, Fu Qiang, the current executive director of brand marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, will take over some of Yu Jingmin’s positions and be responsible for the subsequent sales and marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, but the specific position is still uncertain.
Regarding the above-mentioned personnel adjustment, SAIC insiders revealed to the editor of "Financial Circle Society & Daoge said the car" that the official will announce the news this Friday. After checking with the personnel and related enterprises, the editor confirmed that the biggest personnel adjustment of SAIC involves five major sectors: SAIC-GM, SAIC-GM-Wuling, SAIC-Volkswagen, SAIC Passenger Cars and SAIC International, with eight senior personnel.
Why did SAIC make such a large-scale personnel adjustment this time? What is the starting point and logic behind it?
Return to your old club and give full play to your strengths.
In this large-scale personnel change, there is a very noteworthy phenomenon, that is, many senior executives have returned to their old employers, such as Yu Jingmin, Park Chunxu and Cai Bin.
Looking back at Yu Jingmin’s career, he worked for SAIC Volkswagen as soon as he graduated, then transferred to SAIC Volkswagen, and returned to SAIC Volkswagen in April 2021. Now he has returned to SAIC Volkswagen again. Yu Jingmin, who runs back and forth on both sides, is like a "fire captain". Wherever he is needed, he will rush. Although Yu Jingmin, who worked for SAIC Volkswagen in recent years, also did a good job, his highlight was in the period of SAIC passenger cars.
Before Yu Jingmin took over SAIC passenger cars, Roewe and MG under SAIC passenger cars were in a tepid state. After Yu Jingmin took charge, in 2017, Roewe and MG of SAIC passenger cars jointly achieved an annual sales volume of 520,000 vehicles, an increase of 60% compared with 2016. In 2020, SAIC passenger cars also performed stably in the cold car market, only falling by 2.29% year-on-year, far below the market decline.
It is worth mentioning that Yu Jingmin’s flower name "Pangtouyu" has now become a well-known IP in the circle, which has injected vitality into the to C, youthfulness and fashion of SAIC Roewe and SAIC MG. Compared with SAIC Volkswagen, which is stereotyped in people’s minds, its rejuvenation route may be more suitable for Roewe and MG, SAIC’s own sons. Therefore, online celebrity’s "Fat Head Yu" also has a better display space in SAIC passenger cars. It is worth noting that in the first half of this year, the domestic sales of Roewe and MG MG, two brands owned by SAIC passenger cars, all declined significantly, with the monthly sales plummeting by 38.56% in June. Yu Jingmin returned at this time, and his intention was also very obvious.
Park Chun-xu, who returned to SAIC International, had also made outstanding achievements in overseas marketing. When Park Chun-xu worked for SAIC International, it coincided with the crucial moment of the vigorous development of SAIC’s overseas business. With his help, SAIC’s overseas sales reached 390,000 vehicles in 2020, up 11.3% year-on-year, accounting for more than one-third of the total overseas sales of China auto companies, and ranked first in the country for five consecutive years. By 2022, SAIC’s overseas market sales have soared to 1.017 million units, a year-on-year increase of 45.9%, setting a record high. The European market has become SAIC’s first "100,000-vehicle class" overseas regional market, demonstrating the international competitiveness of China automobile brands.
Cai Bin, another former boss, was appointed as the deputy general manager of SAIC-GM in 2009. During Cai Bin’s tenure as deputy general manager, Shanghai GM ranked first in the annual sales list of domestic passenger cars for four consecutive years.
It can be said that the above three executives who have returned to their old clubs have achieved brilliant achievements, and this time they have returned to their respective strengths.
The new official takes office with three fires, and SAIC urgently needs to break the game.
"Although the market competition is cruel, enterprises with real strength, ability to grasp the trend and courage to change will certainly come out."
"SAIC’s character must be distinct, what it can do must be done well, and it will not leave a dead end for itself. SAIC will not eat according to the weather."
"SAIC is an atypical state-owned enterprise and a listed company. To a certain extent, SAIC is more desperate than other private enterprises. "
Judging from Wang Xiaoqiu’s past speeches, the new chairman of SAIC is a professional manager who is outspoken and domineering. On the one hand, a new official takes office with three fires, and it is his routine operation to adjust personnel and open up a new situation. On the other hand, Wang Xiaoqiu’s personal character also forces him to make large-scale arrangements for SAIC as soon as possible.
Let a chairman who has been in office for less than a month carry out large-scale personnel layout so quickly, and the considerations behind it are inseparable from sales volume. The editor noted that in the past five years, SAIC has dropped from the peak of 7.05 million vehicles in 2018 to 5.02 million vehicles in 2023, reducing sales by 2 million vehicles. In the first half of this year, SAIC sold 182.69 vehicles, down 11.81% year-on-year. SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM, SAIC-GM-Wuling and other brands all showed a year-on-year decline.
Therefore, it can be seen that in order to boost sales, Wang Xiaoqiu has employed many sales backbones as senior executives. Apart from senior experts like Yu Jingmin and Park Chunxu, Haitao Xue, a young marketing backbone, has made SAIC-GM-Wuling a classic case in the marketing circle in recent years, and promoted the birth of the new Baojun brand and the explosive model Hongguang Mini EV, which can be said to have contributed greatly. In 2023, SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 1,403,066 new cars throughout the year, which maintained its outstanding achievements for many years, and made major breakthroughs in new energy vehicles and overseas markets. This transfer to SAIC-GM’s vice president of sales will greatly help SAIC-GM’s sales.
Fu Qiang, who is also a young generation of SAIC, has also risen rapidly in the past two years. He was responsible for network planning, marketing and other businesses in SAIC Volkswagen. This change will take over some of Yu Jingmin’s positions and be responsible for SAIC Volkswagen’s subsequent sales and marketing sectors. It is also very suitable.
"Wang Xiaoqiu is a doer who knows the products. At that time, the Roewe RX5, the explosive car of SAIC passenger cars, was dominated by Wang Xiaoqiu from research and development to mass production, and the marketing method of the world’s first pure electric Internet SUV was also refreshing," said Lin Shi, secretary-general of China-Europe Association Intelligent Networked Automobile. Considering the overall situation, SAIC’s most promising rise is still its own SAIC passenger car. After all, the product control right is in its own hands. Yu Jingmin’s return may be because he can best understand Wang Xiaoqiu’s intention, implement Wang Xiaoqiu’s decision and lead SAIC passenger cars out of the quagmi