XPeng Adjusts Organizational Structure to Reverse the Downward Trend of Vehicle Sales
Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng is adjusting its organizational structure. According to a Jiemian News report on October 21, the restructuring started about a week ago and is still in progress. It is expected that new appointments will be announced in the next week.
The biggest change in this round of adjustment is that XPeng has begun to set up different business units in order to move away from the previous overly centralized organizational structure and to a more operationally efficient structure. According to informed sources, the business departments involved in this round of adjustment include user development and service center (UDS), product planning and marketing.
Liao Qinghong, who is currently the chief human resources officer and vice president of sales and service in XPeng, is responsible for the UDS. The establishment of business units is for improving efficiency in an all-round way, reducing communication costs, and being close to users, said a person familiar with the matter.
The department originally responsible for corporate image will be upgraded to a first-level department, and will no longer be placed under the responsibility of Li Pengcheng, vice president of XPeng‘s Market Division. Xiang Ying, head of purchasing and senior director of marketing and commerce of XPeng, will only be responsible for purchasing in the future.
In the past year, the organizational structure and personnel changes of XPeng have been frequent. Liu Yilin, deputy general manager of XPeng‘s Internet Center, transferred to the automated driving center. Chen Yonghai, former vice president of AutoNavi’s map business, joined XPeng in early 2022. In Shanghai, XPeng laid off a research and development team that originally belonged to the Internet Center.
According to another person familiar with the matter, the trigger for this adjustment was the listing of XPeng‘s new G9. Consumers have complained about the complexity of naming, the deviation of product planning from user needs and the failure of marketing. The G9 is the first model owned by XPeng with an average price exceeding 300,000 yuan ($41,395), which was highly anticipated when first announced.
SEE ALSO: XPeng Adjusts G9 SUV’s Name, Price and Configuration Two Days after Release
Before the G9 went on the market, XPeng had experienced the problem of product iteration. The sales volume of its third model, XPeng P5, was less than expected, and the main sales volume came from XPeng P7 that has been on the market for nearly three years with few updates.
According to official data, in August and September 2022, XPeng delivered 9,578 vehicles and 8,468 vehicles respectively. 5,745 and 4,634 P7s were delivered during the same period. XPeng‘s delivery volume decreased month-on-month in August, while that in September decreased year-on-year and month-on-month, which was inferior to rivals such as Leapmotor, NETA and NIO for two consecutive months.
