A senior executive of Dalian Wanda Group in charge of automaking is said to have resigned, putting the brakes on the property developer’s EV ambition.
LI Hongpeng, had previously served in key roles at automakers including Volkswagen, Mercedes and Hyundai. he joined Wanda in December 2021 to help build the company’s EV business. Li has now joined HiPhi Automobile, a premium EV maker owned by Human Horizons.
Two months before Li’s arrival, the property developer joined FAW Group to use Wanda’s malls and destinations as showrooms for Hongqi. WANG Jianlin, the founder of Wanda, changed started driving a Hongqi, and the other senior executives followed suit.
Wanda Automobile was founded just before Li’s arrival and since then, more or less nothing has been seen or heard from the operation until Li’s departure.
Open data shows that Wanda is no longer a shareholder of the EV company it founded, which has changed its name to “Taiqing Automobile Technology Service Group”.
