Chang 'an Automobile and Ford Motor jointly announced the appointment of the top national sales service agency

On June 6, 2018, Chang 'an Ford's two major parent companies, Chang' an Automobile and Ford Motors, jointly announced that Lihongpeng and Caozhenyu were appointed as presidents and executive vice presidents of national sales service agencies. This appointment will take effect pending approval by the board of directors of Changan Ford.

As part of Changan Ford Motor Co., Ltd., the national sales service organization will replace the existing Changan Ford Motor Co., Ltd. sales branch and report directly to the Changan Ford Board of Directors as an independent business department. The agency will be responsible for the marketing, sales and service of Ford brand passenger vehicles in the Chinese market and will be officially operational on July 1, 2018.

It is worth mentioning that Wang Qiang, general manager of the former Chang 'an Car Sales Division, has been appointed as the Chinese head of the preparatory group and is responsible for negotiating with Ford to promote the establishment of a unified distribution service agency.

The National Distribution Service is operational from July

Since July 1, 2018, the national sales service agencies will gradually assume the marketing, sales and service functions of all Ford brand passenger vehicles in China, including Changan Ford, Ford brand imported vehicles, and Jianglingfute passenger vehicles.

As sales in China have fallen in the past two years, Ford wants to negotiate with partners changan and jiangling motor group to optimize the Ford brand, including exploring the idea of a unified distribution service.

At the end of last year, Ford made it clear when it launched the China 2025 plan that it would optimize the management of marketing services with its two partners, changan and jiangling.

Just two days after the launch of the Ford China 2025 project, China Southern Industrial Corporation, the parent company of Chang 'an Automobile, signed a framework agreement with Ford Motor Company to deepen the strategic partnership. The agreement reached an agreement on further in-depth cooperation between Chang 'an Automobile and Ford Automobile in the areas of products, sales, procurement, research and development, and emerging business, and achieved a strategic transformation and upgrade of the partnership.

In January, the company learned from sources that Chang 'an Motor had begun negotiations with Ford to promote the establishment of a unified distribution service agency.

Increase sales and service levels

In 2017, Ford's four major parts: Changan Ford, Ford Import, Jiangling Automobile, and Lincoln brand sales in China totaled nearly 1.2 million vehicles, a decrease of 6 % from 2016. Among them, Changan Ford, which is responsible for sales in China, experienced a 14 % decline in 2017. In the first four months of this year, Ford's total sales in China fell 21 % to 276.64 million vehicles as China's overall car market continued to grow.

The establishment of a unified distribution service organization will not only help unify the image of the Ford brand in China, but also help the company respond quickly to market changes and improve service efficiency to customers, so as to better provide consumers with unified, convenient and fast services. This stimulates market demand and drives continuous growth in sales.

Lihongpeng and Caozhenyu represented Fute and Changan, respectively. Ford Motor and Chang 'an Automobile stated that Lihongpeng and Caozhenyu will work together to jointly take charge of the operation of the national sales service agency. According to Changan Ford, the establishment of a national sales service agency will help it provide consumers with a fully upgraded service experience and further draw closer to distributors and local markets.

The following are the personal profiles of the two leaders:

Lihongpeng has rich experience in automotive industry management and market insight. In May 2018, he officially joined Ford Motor Company as vice president of sales and sales of Ford Motor's Greater China. Lihongpeng has 26 years of experience in marketing and sales in the Chinese car market. Before joining Ford Motor Company, he served as senior executive vice president of Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Services Co., Ltd. since 2013, leading the team to develop China into the largest single market in Mercedes-Benz. It also established a national distribution network that is efficient, profitable and sustainable, and has achieved steady growth in sales in China for 59 consecutive months.

Caozhenyu has more than 20 years of automotive sales and user service experience. In 2016, he served as deputy general manager of the sales branch of Changan Ford Motor Company. Prior to this, Caozhenyu served as deputy general manager and deputy general manager of Chang 'an Automobile Car Sales Division, deputy general manager of Chang' an Automobile Overseas Business Development Department and general manager of the international sales company.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.