According to a people’s court notice, BYD Company Limited has filed a lawsuit against the CEO of Tank Brand over a online tort liability dispute. As Chang Yao, the defendant, cannot be contacted, the court has initiated the public notice service procedure. It is learned that the Beijing Internet Court has accepted the case (No. (2025) Jing 0491 Min Chu 7591) of online tort liability dispute between the plaintiff BYD Company Limited and the defendant Chang Yao, with the trial scheduled for September 21.
It is understood that Chang Yao has been out of contact for a month, shortly after he took office as the CEO of Tank Brand.
Multiple media reports indicate that Great Wall Motor Company Limited has updated its management team: Liu Yanzhao has been promoted to Vice President of Great Wall Motor, in charge of the company’s Communication Center and serving as the top leader of its public relations system. He will no longer hold the positions of CEO of Great Wall Motor’s WEY Brand and CEO of Tank Brand. The roles of WEY Brand CEO and Tank Brand CEO will be taken by Feng Fuzhi and Chang Yao respectively. This adjustment aims to optimize the coordination of marketing resources and strengthen the implementation of the “comprehensive ToC” strategy. Regarding relevant reports, Great Wall Motor has not yet made a public response, and Liu Yanzhao himself has not commented on the position change. Currently, his Weibo verification still reads “General Manager of WEY Brand and concurrently General Manager of TANK Brand”, while Feng Fuzhi and Chang Yao have not yet opened social media accounts.
Media sources reveal that Chang Yao’s last Moments (WeChat) update was on June 24. Since July, rumors about Chang Yao being “out of contact” have spread in the automotive industry. Analyses generally point to two possibilities: first, an internal anti-corruption campaign at Great Wall Motor; second, potential issues with the KOC (Key Opinion Consumer) media cooperation project under his supervision. Notably, Chang Yao’s employee ID can no longer be found in Great Wall Motor’s internal address book and OA (Office Automation) system, a detail that has become direct evidence for external speculation.
As for the reason why Chang Yao is being sued by BYD Company Limited, the court notice only states it is an “online tort liability dispute”. However, since Chang Yao has no social media accounts, the specific cause of the “online tort liability dispute” leading to the lawsuit remains unknown. Up to now, Great Wall Motor has not provided any response.
On August 18, Li Yunfei, General Manager of BYD Group’s Brand and Public Relations Department, released a video on Weibo, initiating an appeal to “BYD fans” to avoid getting involved in unnecessary online disputes. Li Yunfei stated that BYD and “Wing Chun” share common values: focusing on defense and refraining from active attacks. He emphasized that BYD is committed to its own development and never takes the initiative to target competitors. “The Chinese auto market is large, and the global auto market is even larger, which can accommodate the coexistence of diverse brands. Healthy competition promotes industrial progress, while malicious disparagement harms the industry ecosystem.”
imageTank Brand is an off-road vehicle brand under Great Wall Motor, launched in April 2021. Its current models on sale include Tank 300, Tank 400, Tank 500, and Tank 700, among which the Tank 300 is the best-selling model. Official data shows that from January to July 2025, Tank Brand achieved a cumulative sales volume of 97,034 units. The top three best-selling models are the Tank 300 (31,379 units), Tank 500 New Energy (22,891 units), and Tank 400 New Energy (19,524 units) respectively.
