By YANG Shihan
FU Xiaokang, vice president of Chinese automobile maker Great Wall, has not been seen by colleagues since late October.
Sources close to Fu said he has been taking extended leave, and despite chairman WEI Jianjun’s efforts to prevent him from leaving, Fu is determined to quit.
An experienced journalist before joining Great Wall in 2014, Fu became vice president in 2019, in charge of the company’s branding.
In June last year, WANG Fengying, the general manager who worked with Wei for more than 30 years, left Great Wall to join EV maker XPeng.
Since then, several executives, including WEN Fei, general manager of Great Wall’s EV marque Ora and head of PR GUO Tiefu, have also left the company.
Industry insiders blame the exodus on Wei, who is well-known for his abrasive style. Wei became the chairman of Great Wall in 1990. Under his reign, Great Wall was the first private automaker to go public in Hong Kong in 2003.
In 2016, Great Wall established an electric SUV marque named WEY – homophonic with the leader of the company. The marque has so far seen nine general managers come and go. None of them made it through a whole year.
In the first three quarters, WEY delivered 33,000 vehicles, less than Li Auto delivers in a month. The company is gradually falling behind due to issues such as a disorganized product line and frequent counterproductive marketing efforts.
Wei once said Great Wall did not need democracy: “It’s all down to the leader. I do well, the company does well, or otherwise.” Former employees describe Wei as bad-tempered and controlling.
For senior managers, compensation and working environment are no longer the main pursuit and Great Wall offers insufficient development opportunities.
