Changan Automobile has announced a major leadership reshuffle, separating the roles of its parent group and listed company to sharpen decision-making in China's fiercely competitive EV market. The changes, unveiled at a media briefing on October 16, come less than a month after the board's September re-election and mark the completion of a one-year transition for China Changan Automobile Group.
Zhu Huarong remains chairman and party secretary of the group but has relinquished his concurrent posts at the listed company, Changan Automobile. Zhao Fei, who continues as group general manager, now also serves as chairman and party secretary of the listed company. Ye Pei has been appointed president of Changan Automobile, with Yang Dayong as executive vice president and Deng Chenghao as executive vice president. Klaus Zyciora, a former Volkswagen design chief, has been hired as global chief senior advisor.
The key change, according to Sina Auto, is that the number of executives holding dual roles at both group and listed company has been cut from four to one. Only Zhao Fei now bridges the two levels. The group will focus on strategy, investment, and resources, while the listed company takes charge of products, markets, and operating results. This clearer division aims to speed up response times in a market where product cycles and price adjustments are accelerating.
Faster approvals, shared resources
Zhao Fei described the new operating model as "two levels, one speed." Major strategic investments are decided by the group, but for specific business matters, both levels participate in early discussions and then go through approval procedures separately. He claimed many approvals can be completed within half a day, with internal processes compressed from one month to 15 days under a "123 principle" that limits steps to discussion, confirmation, and approval. Zhu Huarong went further, saying some processes that once took two months can now be done in one to two hours, within compliance.
The reshuffle also affects brand strategy. Avatr and Shenlan will keep independent product definitions, marketing, and sales channels, but will integrate manufacturing, R&D platforms, core technology, and purchasing. This front-end differentiation with back-end consolidation is intended to cut costs while preserving brand identity. The group's four business segments—new vehicles, new components, new services, and new ecosystem—will operate independently but share resources around the core vehicle business.
Overseas expansion is a top priority. Changan's business now covers 149 countries, with its first Thai new-energy vehicle plant in production and 17 KD (knock-down) factories across eight countries, including Brazil. Overseas capacity stands at 446,000 vehicles. Management expects overseas sales to reach over 900,000 units this year, with a plan to double independent-brand overseas sales next year. Longer-term targets are 5 million total sales by 2030 (2 million overseas) and 6 million by 2035.
New models and technology push
Ye Pei set a near-term goal of surpassing 3 million global sales by 2027, supported by platform-based development: two million-scale platforms for B- and C-segment vehicles and a 600,000-unit D-segment platform. Product definition now starts from global user needs rather than China-first, Zhao Fei said. The Qiyuan brand will drive new model volumes, while Avatr and Shenlan jointly target the mid-to-high end.
The Qiyuan Q06, a new BEV (battery-electric) model, has already shown promise: over 35,000 orders in 24 hours, with the 700 km range version accounting for more than 85% of orders and the top-tier smart-driving package chosen by 45%. First-month deliveries are expected to exceed 10,000 units. Ye Pei set a global target of 200,000 units for the Q06, while the Q05 aims for 500,000 units globally.
Changan's technology investment is substantial: R&D spending reached 7.67% of revenue in 2025, with over 7,500 smart-driving engineers, 400,000+ virtual simulation test scenarios, and 3.3 million km of daily simulated ADAS (advanced driver assistance) mileage. Zhu Huarong argued that new energy is only the prelude, and the future will be decided by intelligence. He stressed that only technology with real value will win market acceptance.
The governance changes are designed to maintain strategic continuity while improving execution. The group continues its "1445" strategy (four businesses, five goals), and the listed company pursues its "Shangri-La," "Big Dipper," and "Sea of Rivers" plans. Whether the two-tier structure delivers on its promise of faster decisions and lower costs will be tested in the coming quarters, as Changan races to scale up overseas and turn its smart-driving investments into sales.
