AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/24 Report--

On February 24th, Ford China announced that Chen Anning, President and CEO of Ford China, has decided to retire. Wu Shengbo, current Managing Director and Chief operating Officer of Ford China, will formally take over as President and CEO of Ford China from March 1, reporting to ∙ Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company. After stepping down from Ford China, Chen Anning will participate in projects to enhance the company's global strategic competitiveness and business growth, and will continue to report to Jim ∙ Farley. He will officially retire on October 1 this year, ending more than 20 years of career at Ford Motor Company.

Chen Anning is not only a Ford veteran, but also a veteran of the automobile industry. According to the data, Chen Anning worked at Ford for more than 10 years, from being a product and manufacturing engineer in Ford's global headquarters in 1993 to becoming the senior director of Ford's Asia-Pacific vehicle products program. In 2009, Chen Anning joined Chery as a specially appointed expert of the National Thousand talents Plan, and was appointed by Yin Tongyue as deputy general manager of Chery Automobile and president of the Automotive Engineering and Technology Research and Development Institute. In April 2012, Chen Anning served as chairman of Chery Jaguar Land Rover. In December 2014, Chen Anning was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief operating Officer of Chery Automotive, while replacing Guo Qian as Chairman and CEO of Guanzhi Automobile. In April 2017, Chen Anning was promoted to general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. In September 2018, Chery officially announced that Chen Anning will no longer hold the post of general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. from September 30, and the company's board of directors has agreed to Chen Anning's resignation application for family and personal reasons. I would also like to express my gratitude for Chen Anning's efforts and contributions during her tenure. In the future, Chery Automobile Chairman Yin Tongyue will be fully responsible for the overall work of Chery Automobile.

In November 2018, Chen Anning returned to Ford as Ford's global vice president and president and CEO of Ford Motor China, responsible for the development of Ford's business in China, including Ford and Lincoln's import business, Changan Ford, Jiangling Ford and operations in Taiwan, directly to Jim, executive vice president and president of global markets of Ford Motor. Jim Farley reports. Prior to this, Ford made a major adjustment to the global market, announcing the independence of Ford China from the Asia-Pacific region and becoming Ford's core market alongside the North American market. In other words, the Chinese market, which is more valued and independent by Ford, is also responsible for a leader with rich experience in the Chinese auto market and Chinese ancestry.

Before Chen Anning, Ford China had frequent personnel changes. According to statistics, after the departure of Cheng Meiwei, the first chairman of Ford China in 2008, Ford China first welcomed many senior executives, such as Robert J.Graziano, Joe Hin-richs, David Schoch, John Lawler, Peter Fleet, Jason Luo and so on, among which Xiao Dawei took office twice. The previous CEO of Ford China was held by Luo Guanhong, who was also ordered by Ford during the crisis in China, and was regarded as the core player to "reverse the situation in Ford China" at that time. However, after less than half a year in office, Luo Guanhong announced his resignation for personal reasons. After Luo Guanhong resigned, Fred, who is also president of China, said publicly that Ford would next look for CEO candidates who are more suitable for the Chinese market. However, for Ford, there was no time to wait, and then Chen Anning returned to Ford and was appointed to be the number one in China in the face of danger.

It is worth mentioning that Chen Anning is not "fighting alone." Since 2018, Ford China has announced a number of appointments, including Mao Jingbo as president of Lincoln Asia Pacific and China, Li Hongpeng and Cao Zhenyu as president and executive vice president of Ford's national sales and service organization, respectively, and with Chen Anning in place, has directly completed a complete set of "localization" management from brand to sales. It is understood that Li Hongpeng, president of Ford's national sales and service organization, Nigel Harris, vice president of Ford Motor Company and president of Changan Ford Motor Company, Fan Jie, chairman of Jiangling Motor Co., Ltd., Lincoln China Mao Jingbo, and Zhu Zhongyuan, president of Ford Liuhe Motor (Taiwan), will all report to Chen Anning.

In 2019, Chen Anning put forward the "Ford China 2.0" strategic plan. since then, Ford has actively promoted the transformation in the field of electrification and intelligence with the brand spirit of "avant-garde innovation". Under the leadership of Chen Anning, Ford China successfully promoted the localization of the Lincoln brand and quickly launched a number of domestic Lincoln brand SUV models to achieve rapid and sustained brand growth. In 2022, with the core concept of "more Ford, more China", Ford launched a new generation of Mondeo, new explorer, new Lincoln Z and other models, and successfully introduced a new generation of Ford star products, the Fmur150 Raptor. In addition, in the face of increasingly fierce competition, Ford China established Ford Electric Mach Technology Co., Ltd., launched the pure electric SUV Ford Electric Horse Mustang Mach-E model, deeply focused on the R & D and operation of intelligent electric vehicles in the Chinese market, and further supported the Ford+ program.

Who is the successor, Wu Shengbo? According to the data, Wu Shengbo was born in May 1966 and is an American nation. he holds a bachelor's degree in thermal engineering from Tsinghua University, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Lincoln University in Nebraska, and a master's degree in information management systems from Keller School of Management and Research in Nebraska. He has worked at GE, Honeywell and Osram, and held major leadership positions in the Asia-Pacific region. In October 2022, Ford Motor (China) Co., Ltd. announced that Wu Shengbo joined Ford Motor Company as managing director and chief operating officer of Ford China.

The frequent personnel changes may be related to Ford's lower-than-expected performance in China. In 2022, Ford had full-year operating income of $158.1 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and tax of $10.4 billion. In the Chinese market, Ford lost $572 million, mainly due to falling sales.

Changan Ford is the main source of Ford's sales in China. In 2022, it launched three major models, namely, the new Mondeo, the new focus with four-cylinder engine and the new explorer. In addition, EVOS, Ruijie and other models have also launched modified models. But even so, Changan Ford's sales fell, with 163721 new cars sold in 2022, down 19.78 per cent from a year earlier.

As an important part of Ford's profitability in China, Changan Lincoln has launched three domestic SUV models: adventurer, navigator and aviator since its establishment, and launched its first car-Lincoln Z in March 2022. However, in the face of increasingly competitive luxury market, Changan Lincoln has also seen sales. Data show that Changan Lincoln sold a total of 77312 vehicles in 2022, down 6.32% from the same period last year.

The second biggest reason for Ford's loss in China should be the poor electric investment market. Compared with other car brands, Ford's progress in electrification in the Chinese market is also slow. Previously, Ford launched the Mustang Mach-E in China, but sales have remained sluggish since it entered the Chinese market in 2021. The insurance figures show that Ford Electric Horse sold only 6080 vehicles in 2022.

For 2023, Jim ∙ Farley (Jim Farley) thinks it will be a "critical year" for Ford. In the Chinese market, with the personnel upheaval and other twists and turns, the "Ford China 2.0" strategy will enter its fourth year this year, and Ford's electrification has also entered an important period of a new stage. According to Ford's strategic plan, Ford plans to produce more than 2 million electric vehicles worldwide in 2026, accounting for 50 per cent of electric vehicle sales in 2030. In the face of the increasingly competitive intelligent electric vehicle products in the Chinese market, although Ford China continues to deepen the research and development and operation of intelligent electric vehicles in the Chinese market, how to realize the localization and electrification speed of "more China". It may be a difficult point for sales to turn around in 2023.

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