AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/28 Report--

On March 27, Zhongtai Automobile announced that due to personal reasons, Lian Gang applied to resign as president of the company and remained a director of the eighth board of directors, a member of the board's strategy committee and a member of the board's nominating committee. During the vacancy of President, Mr. Hu Zeyu, Chairman of Zhongtai Automobile, will act as President. Zhongtai Automobile pointed out in the announcement that the appointment of the president will be completed as soon as possible in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Data show that Lian Gang was born in 1960 and graduated from Harbin Engineering University with a doctoral degree. He is currently vice president of China Changan Automobile Group, director of the eighth board of directors of Zhongtai Automobile Co., Ltd., member of the strategic committee of the board of directors, and member of the board of directors nominating committee. In August 2018, Lian Gang served as Vice President of Zhongtai Automobile, and three years later, he was appointed President of Zhongtai Automobile in 2021. Before joining Zhongtai Automobile, he served as designer, Section Chief, Minister of Technology and Deputy General Manager of Dongan Power Co., Ltd.; Deputy General Manager of Dongan Group, Deputy General Manager of Harbin Aviation Group, Vice Minister of Automobile Division of AVIC Science and Technology Industry, etc.

This is the second personnel change of Zhongtai Automobile in 2024. On January 31, Zhongtai Automobile announced that Ms. Yu Lili, the company's chief financial officer, applied to resign as the company's chief financial officer for personal reasons. After her resignation, Ms. Yu Lili will no longer hold any position in the company. In the absence of the appointment of a new CFO, Ms. Cao Min, vice president of the company, will act as CFO for the time being.

Zhongtai, formerly known as Huangshan Golden Horse Co., Ltd., established in 1998, was listed on May 19, 2000. In September 2003, Zhongtai Automobile was registered and established, and in early 2006, through Chengdu Xindi Automobile Company to obtain the qualification to start vehicle manufacturing. Since then, Dazhongtai 2008 and Zhongtai SR9 have been launched, and the new car has been quickly recognized by consumers, but the good times will not last long.

In December 2020, Tieniu Group, the parent company of Zhongtai Automobile, was ruled by the court to go bankrupt because it was seriously insolvent and unable to continue to operate. Affected by this incident, Zhongtai vehicle production was almost at a standstill from 2020 to 2021. Until October 2021, Zhongtai Automobile restructuring investment talents were identified as Jiangsu Shenzhen Merchants, with a restructuring investment of 2 billion yuan.

However, in 2023, Zhongtai Automotive vehicle business has not yet fully recovered, and senior management has also changed frequently. On May 31, 2023, Zhongtai Automobile announced that Mr. Huang Jihong applied to resign as chairman and director of the board of directors for personal reasons, as well as as a member of the Strategy Committee and nomination Committee of the eighth Board of Directors of the company. After the resignation of the relevant position, Mr. Huang Jihong will not hold any position in the company. On November 30 of the same year, Ye Changqing, director of Zhongtai Automobile, and Liu Ya, director and vice president of Zhongtai Automobile, tendered their resignation and no longer held any position in Zhongtai Automobile. Among them, Ye Changqing applied to resign as director and acting chairman of Zhongtai Motor, as well as as a member of the Strategy Committee, and Liu Ya applied to resign as a director and vice president. At the same time, she resigned as a member of the nomination Committee, the Audit Committee and the Remuneration and Evaluation Committee. In addition, Cui Xiaozhong and Wang Wulin, independent directors of Zhongtai Automobile, both resigned from their positions in listed companies for personal reasons.

In addition to a number of senior executives have left, Zhongtai Automobile operating performance is also difficult to say ideal. On January 29th, Zhongtai Motor issued an annual performance forecast for 2023: the net profit of Zhongtai Automobile belonging to shareholders of listed companies is expected to lose 750 million yuan-900 million yuan, compared with 910 million yuan in the same period last year, narrowing the year-on-year loss; net profit after deducting non-recurrent profit and loss is expected to be 800 million yuan-1 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 1.01 billion yuan in the same period last year, narrowing the year-on-year loss.

As for the reasons for the performance pre-loss, Zhongtai Automobile explained that compared with 2022, the company's vehicle sales revenue increased in 2023, but the income of the auto parts and door business decreased due to the market environment, so the overall income decreased. In addition, the company's vehicle business is still recovering in 2023, with small sales. At the same time, the company intends to make provision for asset impairment and provision for bad debts totaling about 300 million to 400 million yuan, so the overall performance is still in a state of loss.

At present, Zhongtai Automobile has set up complete vehicle production bases in Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Chongqing and other places, covering sedan, SUV, MPV and new energy vehicle market segments.

On March 19, Zhongtai Automobile said on the interactive platform: "the company has a vehicle research and development team." However, for Zhongtai Automobile, the only product that can be relied on at present is its subsidiary Jiangnan U2, a mini electric car, which was launched in February 2023. It is the first new car released by Zhongtai Automobile after bankruptcy and restructuring. A total of six models have been launched, with a price range of 56800 yuan to 98800 yuan, but since the launch, the official has not announced the sales volume of the car.

As one of the independent brand car companies, although Zhongtai Automobile has resumed normal production, there are still many problems to be solved. Zhongtai Automobile urgently needs to find the right positioning and reshape its brand image.

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