Liu Yigong was promoted to member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of FAW Group

Enter the group leadership team

The leadership team of FAW Group has made another adjustment. "China FAW Group Co., Ltd. held a cadre meeting and announced the decision to appoint members of the leadership team: According to the notice from the Organization Department of the Central Committee on the appointment of members of the group company's leadership team, Comrade Liu Yigong was appointed as member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of China FAW Group Co., Ltd." The official website of FAW Group announced it on November 11.

Liu Yigong, who has a new title, has been at the helm of FAW-Volkswagen for three years. In September 2017, he began to serve as the general manager of FAW-Volkswagen. Liu's career also started at FAW-Volkswagen. In 1992, 24-year-old Liu Yigong returned to his hometown of Changchun after graduating from Wuhan University of Technology and worked at FAW-Volkswagen. He served successively as director of the stamping workshop and chief of the accounting section of the financial management department.

After 2006, Liu Yigong served in many important positions in FAW Group and its joint venture companies. From 2006 to 2017, Liu served as deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Chengdu FAW Automobile, general manager of Sichuan FAW Toyota in China, and director of the Supervision Department of FAW Group.

After Liu Yigong took charge of FAW-Volkswagen, the company's status continued to rise. In 2017, FAW-Volkswagen's annual sales exceeded 2 million vehicles for the first time. In 2018, the total sales volume of China's auto market fell by 6%, but FAW-Volkswagen achieved growth against the trend, with terminal sales increasing by 2.6% year-on-year. In 2019, the company achieved further growth, with total sales of 2.12 million vehicles, surpassing its rival SAIC Volkswagen and becoming the number one domestic car company in sales. In the first ten months of this year, FAW-Volkswagen's sales reached 1.64 million vehicles, nearly 400,000 vehicles more than SAIC-Volkswagen, and still ranks first among domestic car companies.

Volkswagen grows and FAW returns

The sales of FAW-Volkswagen continue to grow, which is also due to the active introduction of SUV models by executives headed by Liu Yigong. After 2012, domestic SUV sales have grown rapidly, but FAW-Volkswagen has not launched corresponding models.

In July 2018, FAW-Volkswagen launched its first SUV, Tange, to make up for the shortcomings of SUVs. Three months later, the company officially launched the Tanyue. As a "latecomer" in the SUV segment, FAW-Volkswagen, which needed to open up the market, took the lead in competing with competing products. In 2019, the Tanyue became the B-class SUV sales champion. In the first ten months of this year, Tanyue sold a total of 141,000 vehicles, ranking sixth in the domestic SUV sales rankings.

Liu Yigong also attaches great importance to the layout of the Audi brand in SUVs. In the first half of 2018, when Liu Yigong publicly discussed the layout of the FAW-Volkswagen factory, he revealed that the planned investment in the Changchun production site exceeded 13.7 billion, of which the new Audi Q factory has invested 6.4 billion so far.

The sales volume of FAW-Volkswagen continues to improve, which has also restored the status of FAW Group. In the first half of 2020, FAW Group sold a total of 1.63 million vehicles, nearly 400,000 units less than SAIC, the current leader in China's automotive industry. But in 2017, FAW's total sales were less than half of SAIC's.

FAW Group is known as the "eldest son of China" and is the earliest automobile group established in China. Before 2006, it had been the largest automobile group in China. But after 2006, it showed a slight momentum. In September 2017, Xu Liuping was appointed chairman of FAW Group and initiated reforms such as adjusting the brand structure, sorting out the R&D and supply chain systems, and internal competition for this old state-owned enterprise. FAW Group gradually showed a return trend.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.