On March 27, 2024, BAIC Group held a cadre meeting and announced that Zhang Jianyong would be the secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd., and Jiang Deyi would no longer hold the position of secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd.
In July 2020, BAIC Group announced that Jiang Deyi would take over from Xu Heyi as the secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. Public information shows that Jiang Deyi is 60 years old and has served as the secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Beijing Jinyu Group Co., Ltd. Jinyu Group is a Beijing state-owned enterprise mainly engaged in real estate and building materials. That is to say, before becoming the chairman of BAIC Group, Jiang Deyi had not served in the automotive-related industry and was an “outsider”. And it has only been three years since he became the “decision-maker” of BAIC Group.
It is worth mentioning that during his tenure as the chairman of BAIC Group, Jiang Deyi also appears to be exceptionally low-key. At the brand launch conferences of BAIC Group, Jiang Deyi rarely speaks as a leader on stage and rarely expresses his personal views on social platforms. In the industry’s view, although Jiang Deyi is not a senior figure in the automotive industry, after becoming the “top leader” of BAIC Group, he has been more pragmatic.
During Jiang Deyi’s tenure as the chairman of BAIC Group, brands such as Saab and Borgward have disappeared one after another. Once the leading Chinese new energy vehicle company, BAIC New Energy has also reached a stalemate. The high-end new energy vehicle brand ARCFOX Alpha is just getting started, and Beijing Hyundai, as a major pillar of the group, has also encountered a development bottleneck.
In the past few years, BAIC Group could only rely on Beijing Benz to struggle, achieving revenues of 155.154 billion yuan, 169.695 billion yuan, 167.966 billion yuan, and 183.155 billion yuan in 2019-2022, respectively, accounting for 88.45%, 95.89%, 95.48%, and 96.16% of Beijing Automotive’s total revenue.
In order to focus on the development of the vehicle business and increase capital to the joint venture brand. In December 2021, BAIC Group increased its stake in Mercedes-Benz Group to 9.98%, surpassing Geely to become the largest shareholder of Mercedes-Benz Group. And Beijing Benz is the profit cow of BAIC Group, which at least ensures profit support. At the same time, in order to ensure the development of the independent brand, BAIC BluePark is directly controlled by BAIC Group and introduces Huawei to cooperate with the Alpha brand to build cars.
Generally speaking, although Jiang Deyi is not a professional “automotive person”, he has indeed made a lot of efforts for the prosperity of BAIC Group during his tenure. As for how BAIC Group will develop and layout in the future, it will be Zhang Jianyong’s task.
Unlike Jiang Deyi, the successor, Zhang Jianyong, is 48 years old. He graduated from the major of Management Science and Engineering at Beijing Institute of Technology. Except for serving as the head of the finance department of the China Electric Power Research Institute for 3 years from 2001 to 2003, his 20-year career has been spent in BAIC Group. From December 2003 to December 2010, he successively served as the assistant manager, deputy manager, and manager of the Asset and Finance Department of BAIC Holding. From December 2010 to June 2015, he served as the deputy chief financial officer of BAIC Group, the head of the Finance Department of BAIC Group, and in June 2015, he was promoted to the deputy general manager of BAIC Group.
During his tenure as the deputy general manager of BAIC Group, Zhang Jianyong also served as a director of Foton Motor, executive director of Beijing Automotive Group Industry Investment Co., Ltd., chairman of Beijing Automotive Group Finance Co., Ltd., and director of Beijing Hainachuan Automotive Components Co., Ltd. In November 2022, Zhang Jianyong was transferred to a member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Beijing Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. After only one year in government service, he returned to take charge of BAIC Group. It is not difficult to see that Zhang Jianyong is not only an experienced finance professional, but also a veteran in the automotive industry. These work experiences are beneficial for him to further deepen the reform of BAIC Group on the basis of Jiang Deyi and promote the stability of joint venture brands and the upward movement of independent brands.
Like many current large auto manufacturers, BAIC Group’s independent brands are rising rapidly, while joint venture brands are on the decline. However, at least BAIC Group still has Beijing Benz, which can almost be said to be “worry-free about food and clothing with Beijing Benz”. However, as a state-owned enterprise in Beijing and a battleship with both independent and joint venture brands, how to expand the advantages of joint venture brands while ensuring the upward movement of independent brands is also a problem that the new leader, Zhang Jianyong, needs to solve.
It is understood that in addition to Jiang Deyi, the current general manager of BAIC Group, Zhang Xiyong, has also passed the retirement age of 60. Who will take over as general manager and partner with Zhang Jianyong is also an outstanding issue that needs to be resolved.
