On January 23rd, Red Star Capital Bureau learned from Xiaopeng Motors (09868. HK/XPEV. US) that Wang Fengying has led the promotion of a new round of organizational restructuring for Xiaopeng Motors, involving multiple departments such as marketing, human resources, intelligent data, production and manufacturing, and product planning.
It is worth mentioning that there are reports that Xu Jing, the Director of Public Relations, is also being adjusted from being a PR media manager at the level of P8 to being transferred to work as a corporate brand, reporting to a P7 employee. Xiaopeng Motors did not respond to Xu Jing's transfer.
New round of architecture adjustments
The PR director who criticized the media for "not understanding financial reports" was exposed to be demoted
Red Star Capital Bureau learned that Huang Ronghai, the former head of Data Intelligence Center (DIC), is in charge of the human resources department, and Chen Dan, the former head of the human resources department, has resigned from Xiaopeng Motors; Zhang Li, former General Manager of Great Wall Motors who joined Xiaopeng Motors a few months ago, was responsible for production and manufacturing, replacing retired Jiang Ping; Jiang Ziyang, who previously served as a senior consultant for positioning consulting at Reese Strategy, joined Xiaopeng Motors to be responsible for product planning, which was previously handled by Wu Meng. The intelligent driving and vehicle networking departments of Xiaopeng Motors have been less affected, and this part of the business is personally managed by Xiaopeng Motors Chairman He Xiaopeng.
Xu Jing's previous public relations skills were questioned due to her anger towards media reporters for "not understanding financial reports". The topic of # Xiaopeng Automobile's Public Relations Director angrily criticizing reporters # also made it to the hot search on Weibo.
On December 14, 2023, during the 2023 Media Face to face Event held by Weilai Auto, some media roast in the circle of friends, "Weilai is at least more open and friendly than Xiao Peng who forced reporters to ask questions out of the venue at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Li Bin came to the venue early and shook hands with everyone one by one." Xu Jing quoted the screenshot of the reporter's circle of friends in the circle of friends, And he wrote, "Could you please tell this teacher that I haven't invited him for any interviews, after all, I can't even read financial reports."
Later, Xu Jing explained, "Today I added humor to everyone, but it was indeed a genuine expression. I am not a 'smooth' PR person, I have never been. But I respect media people who speak facts, reason, and content." She claimed that she did not intend to oppose media people, let alone hate them. At that time, the media went to the investor IR's special session at the auto show in the afternoon, and it was not the responsibility of PR, nor was it known that he was kicked out by IR.
Personnel adjustments starting from 2022
Since the failure of the launch of the Xiaopeng G9 in the second half of 2022, various problems of Xiaopeng Motors have been exposed, leading to a series of adjustments.
In October 2022, Xiaopeng Automobile underwent a major organizational restructuring, establishing five committees and three product matrix organizations. He Xiaopeng personally serves as the Director of the Product and Strategy Committee, and the leaders of the three major platforms report directly to him. In the new organizational structure, He Xiaopeng significantly reduces the direct participation of ecological enterprises, while focusing more on Xiaopeng Automobile's strategy, product planning, and research and development.
In January 2023, Wang Fengying, former General Manager of Great Wall Motors, joined Xiaopeng Motors as the President, responsible for overall product planning, product matrix, and sales system of Xiaopeng Motors. The specific division of labor between He Xiaopeng and Wang Fengying is "she is in charge, I am in charge".
At the same time, Yi Han, who was responsible for marketing at Volvo, Lynk&Co, and Smart, joined Xiaopeng Motors to oversee Xiaopeng's marketing system. But in less than a year, Yi Han returned to Geely to be responsible for marketing the smart brand.
The executives of Xiaopeng Motors have undergone frequent changes. At the launch of the new G9, He Xiaopeng publicly stated, "There were 12 executives in the financial reports of Xiaopeng's listed company last year, and only two executives remain today."
Xia Heng, co-founder of Xiaopeng Motors, resigns from his position as executive director; Li Pengcheng, the CEO assistant of Xiaopeng Motors, resigned and joined Avita; Vice President of Autonomous Driving, Wu Xinzhou, resigned and joined NVIDIA; Liu Minghui, the head of the powertrain, resigned and joined CATL; Liu Langechuan, the head of autonomous driving AI at Xiaopeng Motors, resigned and joined Anke
Xiaopeng Motors has also completed the transformation of its marketing system and carried out internal anti-corruption measures. The merger of the two channel teams, Auto Trade and UDS, has been completed; The sales regions of the two major channels nationwide have been removed and adjusted to a community system; The head of the procurement department, Li Feng, has been suspended from work, and multiple employees have cooperated in the investigation
After a year of adjustment, Xiaopeng Motors' monthly sales have risen from 5000 units at the beginning of the year to over 20000 units for three consecutive months at the end of the year. However, Xiaopeng Automobile's losses in the third quarter are still intensifying, with a year-on-year increase of 63.6% in net losses to 3.89 billion yuan; The gross profit margin is -2.7%, which has narrowed year-on-year but has been negative for three consecutive quarters. The gross profit margin for automobiles is -6.1%.
He Xiaopeng stated that in 2024, the company will continue to improve its organizational structure, and organizational ability is an important factor in whether a company can enter the top three in China and the top ten in the world. Xiaopeng Motors will continue to enhance its strengths in areas such as intelligence and intelligent driving, and make up for its weaknesses in design and marketing. By the end of 2024, Xiaopeng Motors will achieve the goal of reducing overall costs by 25%. The cost reduction measures will significantly improve Xiaopeng's gross profit margin in 2024 and achieve a balance of income and expenditure in 2025.
Red Star News reporter Wu Danruo
