On the evening of July 17th, Qiao Xinyu, former Marketing Director of Lotus Cars, officially announced his joining of BAIC BJEV’s high-end NEV brand ARCFOX. According to his verified Weibo information, Qiao holds the position of Deputy General Manager of ARCFOX’s Brand User Operation Center, overseeing the brand’s marketing efforts.
Qiao Xinyu’s Professional Background With 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, Qiao has worked at Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen successively:
From September 2004 to January 2011, he served as Sales Regional Supervisor at Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd.
From February 2011 to September 2018, he held roles including Phaeton Marketing Manager, Regional Marketing Head, and Senior Brand Manager at Volkswagen Group China Sales Co., Ltd.
In September 2018, Qiao joined Great Wall Motor, where he took on positions such as WEY Brand CMO, Deputy General Manager, and Director of Product Planning Department.
In January 2023, he was transferred to Haval Brand as Executive Vice President of Marketing, responsible for overall Haval brand strategy, product planning, product & brand communication, sales management, and service experience. During his tenure, Haval launched a new product line “Longwang” (Dragon Network) series, along with two new models – Xiaolong and Menglong. However, Xiaolong and Menglong failed to become core models as expected, making adjustments to the product matrix an urgent task. It remains unclear whether Qiao’s departure was related to declining sales.
In July 2024, Qiao announced his joining of Lotus Cars as Marketing Director.
About the Involved Brands
Lotus Cars: Formerly known as Lotus, it is now a brand under Geely Holding Group. Founded in 1948, it was once on a par with top supercar brands like Ferrari and Porsche. In 2017, Geely Holding Group signed an agreement with Malaysia’s DRB-HICOM Group to acquire a 49.9% stake in Proton Holdings (under DRB-HICOM) and a 51% stake in luxury sports car brand Lotus.
BAIC ARCFOX: A high-end intelligent NEV brand built by BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (BAIC BluePark) by integrating global high-quality resources. In October 2020, BAIC BluePark released the Chinese name “Jihu” for ARCFOX.
In 2017, BAIC BluePark signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Huawei.
In 2018, BAIC Group inked a strategic cooperation agreement with Magna on a new-generation intelligent pure electric vehicle platform.In 2019, ARCFOX and Magna jointly launched the forward-developed exclusive pure electric IMC architecture platform, and BAIC BluePark Magna High-end NEV Manufacturing Base was settled in Zhenjiang, China.
Initially targeting the high-end market, ARCFOX launched the ARCFOX Alpha S HI Edition – the first mass-produced model equipped with Huawei’s full-stack intelligent automotive solution. However, due to poor sales, it shifted its focus to the mid-to-high-end market. Its current models on sale include Alpha S6, Alpha S5, Alpha T6, Alpha T5, Koala S, and Koala. Data shows that in the first half of 2025, ARCFOX’s cumulative retail sales reached 53,131 units, among which Alpha S5 (19,478 units), Alpha T5 (18,306 units), and Koala (13,668 units) all exceeded 10,000 units in sales – all three models are priced in the 100,000-yuan range.
BAIC BluePark’s 2025 H1 Performance Forecast
Recently, BAIC BluePark released an announcement stating that the company expects a net loss of RMB 2.2 billion to RMB 2.45 billion attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the first half of 2025 (compared to a loss of RMB 2.571 billion in the same period last year). Its non-net profit (deducting non-recurring gains and losses) is expected to be between RMB 2.23 billion and RMB 2.48 billion (compared to a loss of RMB 2.582 billion in the same period last year).
BAIC BluePark cited the following main reasons for the projected loss:To cope with the fierce competition in the NEV industry, the company has continuously strengthened product layout, increased investment in product R&D, and rapidly expanded sales channels, which have affected its short-term performance.
Although the company’s sales have grown rapidly and product profitability has been continuously optimized, economies of scale have not been fully realized, and the company is still in the loss stage.
However, BAIC BluePark noted that driven by sales growth from the successive launch of new products and the results of cost reduction and efficiency improvement, the company’s gross profit margin is expected to improve in the second half of the year.
