AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)07/31 Report--

On July 31st, Genisse announced the appointment of Zhu Jiang as the new CEO of Genisse Automotive sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which will take effect on August 5, 2024. After ‌ takes office, it will comprehensively promote the growth and development of Genisse's business in China.

Data show that Zhu Jiang has more than 20 years of working experience in the automotive industry, and has served as senior executives in a number of auto companies, including international well-known auto brands such as Lexus, BMW, MINI, Lexus and Ford. Prior to joining Genisse, Zhu Jiang held the position of the first managing director of Lucid in China in September 2022, where he was in charge of the Chinese market.

Reviewing Zhu Jiang's work experience, he has deep attainments in the automobile industry, and he can be regarded as an old man in the automobile industry, especially in brand building and marketing. Zhu Jiang joined BMW brilliance in 2003 in charge of marketing activities, then served as BMW's MINI brand management director from 2008 to 2012, and was later promoted to vice president of brand management for MINI China. Until 2013, he left BMW and joined Lexus. In 2017, Zhu Jiang left Lexus to join Xilai as vice president of user development. In addition to the above work experience, Zhu Jiang briefly served as vice president of former Jidu Automobile, where he was responsible for user development and operation.

Markus Henne, chief executive of Genisys, stepped down in October 2023 and has since been replaced by Wells Lee, chief co-ordinator of Genisys. In response to the appointment of Zhu Jiang as CEO by Genisys China, Song Mingui, global head of Genisse, said that he has accumulated rich management experience in the world's well-known car brands and China's electric vehicle industry. after taking over, it will lead the long-term development and business growth of Genisys in China.

It is understood that GENESIS is an independent luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Group of South Korea, which was established in November 2015. In April 2021, Genisse made a high-profile announcement on the Bund in Shanghai that it would return to the Chinese market by way of imports. The word "return" was adopted because it was not the first time that Genisse had entered China. Prior to this, Genisse entered the Chinese market in the name of "Lawns" and "Gaines" in 2008 and 2014 respectively, but after entering the Chinese market, the sales performance was not good, and eventually ended hastily and disappeared.

From the analysis of the current sales situation, even if Genisse enters the Chinese market again, it does not have much sense of existence in China. According to terminal sales data, ‌ sold only 1558 vehicles in China in 2023, compared with 1457 in 2022.

Up to now, Genisis has successively laid out a number of models in China, including G70, GV70, G80, GV80 and GV60. Although there are many products, its development in the domestic market is not smooth. On the one hand, it is limited by a small number of brands, and the brand appeal and performance-to-price ratio do not have advantages. On the other hand, Korean cars represented by Hyundai are not well recognized in China, and their market share in China is shrinking rapidly. The data show that the market share of Korean brands in China fell from 4.7 per cent to 2.4 per cent between 2019 and 2021, compared with 1.5 per cent in 2023.

At a plenary meeting held in China in October 2023, Wells Lee, then chief coordinator (CEC) of Genisseth China, disclosed that it had lost as much as 1.2 billion yuan in less than 10 months. To make matters worse, the total loss in the three years since entering China has been as high as 3 billion, and it has admitted that not a single Chinese employee of Denisys has bought the brand's vehicles in the past three years. Industry analysts said that behind the huge losses of Genisse's China business is a problem with its operation strategy in the Chinese market, and at the same time, it also reveals from the side that whether it is brand premium or product premium, Genisis has not yet been fully recognized by Chinese consumers.

For now, Genisse continues to lay down and make up lessons to improve competitiveness and profitability. According to the plan, all new models of Genisys will become pure electric models by 2025, achieving 100% zero emissions by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2035. In the middle of this month, however, it emerged that Mike Song, president of Genisse, said in an interview that he would invest in as many hybrid models as possible next year, rather than betting on electric cars.

As a luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Group, Genisse has entered China three times, but its performance in the Chinese market has been surprising. At present, the competitive environment in the luxury car market is becoming increasingly fierce, and as a more niche imported luxury brand, life is obviously more difficult.

After the new official Zhu Jiang is appointed in the face of danger, "how to save the Chinese market" will become a key problem that needs to be solved after taking office. As to whether Zhu Jiang can lead Genisseth to open the Chinese market, there may be an answer soon.

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