On May 7, it was reported that Zhu Jiang, chief operating officer of Ford's China Electric vehicle Division, officially resigned today, and that the next stop is likely to be Xiaomi.
In response to the above news, a person close to Ford China said to Galaxy, "the resignation of Zhu Jiang has just been announced within Ford this morning."
According to public information, Zhu Jiang officially joined Ford China on June 1, 2020 as the head of Pure Electric Mach-E project, responsible for the operation and management of Mach-E-related marketing, public relations, sales, service and customer experience.
Before working in Ford China, Zhu Jiang also worked in Lexus, Lexus, BMW China and other companies, and has worked in the automotive industry for nearly 20 years.
In fact, the news of Zhu Jiang's departure from Ford China has long been rumored. On April 6 this year, there were media reports that Didi had started a car-building project, led by Yang Jun, vice president of Didi and general manager of Xiao Jing car Service. he also said that Zhu Jiang, chief operating officer of Ford's China electric vehicle division, might join.
However, this news was quickly refuted by Zhu Jiang himself, he replied, "this news is too false, the dark horse will be listed next week, do not spread rumors to disturb my morale."
Shortly after the news, on April 13, Ford's first pure electric car in China, the Mustang Mach-E (Electric Mustang), opened a reservation in the Chinese market, and Zhu Jiang led a team to complete the domestic and pre-sale release of the car.
After Zhu Jiang left Ford China, it is not clear whether there is a replacement for the post of chief operating officer of Ford's China Electric vehicle Division, and Zhu Jiang's next step has not been clearly disclosed. However, some people in the industry have learned that Zhu Jiang will work in Xiaomi Automobile next. At present, Xiaomi has started the car-building project.
Recently, in addition to Zhu Jiang's departure, Ford China has also announced a number of new management restructuring. On April 29th, Ford China announced that it would further promote Ford China 2.0 and accelerate the revitalization of its automotive business. for this reason, Ford will set up Ford China passenger vehicle Division and Commercial vehicle Division in China. Lyle Watters, the current president of Ford Motor South America and International Market, will become the general manager of Ford China passenger vehicle Division on July 1st. Wang Wentao, the current president of Jiangling Motor, became the general manager of the commercial vehicle division on May 1, and both reported to Chen Anning, president and CEO of Ford China.
In addition, Ford China also announced that Xiong Chunying, executive vice president of Jiangling Motor, will join Ford China to succeed Wang Wentao as president of Jiangling Motor; for Changan Ford, a joint venture company in China, Ford China announced that he Xiaoqing, former vice president of Ford's China Enterprise Alliance, took over from Shen Dingwen (Steven Armstrong) as president of Changan Ford, while Shen Dingwen became Ford's business transformation officer in South America and India.
After this series of adjustments, Ford China said that the core layout of Ford's automotive business in China in the future will be mainly reflected in the equal emphasis on Ford brand passenger cars and commercial vehicles, further strengthening the Lincoln brand and rapidly promoting the electric vehicle business.
Less than 10 days after the last announcement of the adjustment of the management structure, Ford China announced that it would adjust the position of president of the national sales and service organization, that is, Yang Song, former president of the national sales and service organization, was appointed deputy general manager of the passenger car division of Ford China, reporting to Lyle Watters, general manager of the passenger car division of Ford brand. Lu Yi joined Ford China, succeeded Yang Song as president of the national sales and service organization, and served as a member of the Changan Ford Executive Management Committee.
In fact, two years after the launch of the "Ford China 2.0" program, Ford's performance in China has improved a lot. Sales figures released by Ford show that Ford sold about 153800 vehicles in China in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 73.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. Among them, the Ford brand sold about 76600 new cars in the first quarter, up 44.7 percent from the same period last year; the Ford Quanshun family sold about 12300 vehicles, up 73.8 percent from the same period last year; and the Lincoln brand sold about 19300 vehicles in the first quarter, up 217 percent from the same period last year. Judging from the data, Ford's three major brands have maintained a trend of growth in China.
However, after the above adjustment of Ford's organizational structure and management structure in China, it remains to be seen whether Ford can maintain its growth momentum in China.
