Author |Ge Bangning.
Edit |Li Guozheng.
Produced by |Bangning Studio (GBNGZS).
Over there, the resignation of Wu Baojun, the former president of Leapmotor, is still spreading, and there is the news of "Zeng Lintang, assistant to the chairman of Leapmotor", which once again pushed Leapmotor to the cusp. A few days ago, it was reported that Zeng Lintang had left Leapmotor in December 2023, only 7 months after he joined Leapmotor in May of that year in a low-key manner and served as an assistant to the chairman. During this period, his key responsibilities focused on automotive marketing, channel development, brand building, market publicity, product research and development, and overseas market business. Leapmotor confirmed the news of Zeng Lintang's departure, saying that he "left last year for personal reasons" and gave high praise to the professional advice he made during his time as a consultant. Bangning Studio learned from multiple sources that unlike Wu Baojun, who left due to "the expiration of the labor contract and the resolution of the board of directors, the company will not renew his employment", Zeng Lintang took the initiative to resign - on November 6, 2023, he submitted a resignation letter to the human resources department of Leapmotor and Zhu Jiangming, the founder, chairman and CEO of Leapmotor, and left on December 6, one month later. 
Just like a low-key entry, Zeng Lintang chose to leave in a low-key manner. What puzzles the outside world is that in the past 7 months, what happened to make a professional manager who originally wanted to contribute to the new energy vehicle industry voluntarily resigned? What did this professional experience bring to him? What is his next plan? At the beginning of 2023, Zeng Lintang had the idea of going out again and joining China's new car-making forces. Over the years, he has been following the development of China's automotive industry and has been engaged in some consulting work related to the automotive industry. When he saw the vigorous development of Chinese auto brands, especially new energy vehicles, he hoped to use the accumulated more than 40 years of industry experience to help Chinese brands go global and become an excellent international brand. The opportunity was not long in coming. Strongly recommended by a senior Lexus investor (and his friend for many years), he and Zhu Jiangming met for the first time at the Hangzhou headquarters of Leapmotor on May 8 of that year. The two had a great conversation. During the four-and-a-half-hour communication, Zhu Jiangming asked him a lot of questions about product development, marketing channels, brand building and overseas markets. The two have a common "original intention", coupled with Zhu Jiangming's "science and engineering male" background, Zeng Lintang has rich experience in diversified automobile marketing, and can achieve common goals through complementarity, so Zhu Jiangming invited him to join Leapmotor on the spot. The next day, the two met again in Zhu Jiangming's office and determined two things: First, Zeng Lintang served as the assistant to the chairman to assist Zhu Jiangming in focusing on marketing channels, brand building, R&D processes and overseas strategies. Second, he is scheduled to join on May 21, the day of the monthly meeting of Leapmotor's senior executives. On the same day, Zhu Jiangming introduced Zeng Lintang to a group of executives of Leapmotor. Zeng Lintang said at the meeting that he was very happy to join Leapmotor and hoped to share more with everyone present to make Leapmotor bigger and stronger. 
At first, the two sides got along well and formed a tacit understanding: Zeng Lintang first went to understand the situation of various departments of the company, put forward relevant improvement suggestions to Zhu Jiangming, and explained the advantages and logic behind the plan; After passing Zhu Jiangming's pass, Zhu issued instructions to the relevant departments to promote the implementation, or asked Zeng Lintang to assist the relevant departments in implementing the improvement plan. Every week, Zhu Jiangming set aside an hour to listen to Zeng Lintang's report. Zeng Ze put forward reference opinions based on what he saw, heard and thought for Zhu Jiangming to choose. A prominent example is channel layout. Zeng Lintang suggested that Leapmotor expand according to the 1+N distribution model - focus on key partners in key cities and create a 1+N model: 1 is to select an investor with experience in 4S stores in the automotive industry to open a 4S store in the same sales area, including sales, delivery, after-sales service, sales delivery center, one-stop service to customers, and one or more city exhibition halls for sales. Manufacturers approve N supermarkets and city exhibition halls according to the operational performance and efficiency of investors, and provide perfect training to improve sales efficiency and sales. But then, Zeng Lintang gradually discovered that things were different from what he imagined. He gave a lot of feedback to the upwards, but the action of Zero Run became more and more sluggish, and even no action was taken. He personally believes that some executives of Leapmotor underestimate the complexity of the automobile industry, and there are three phenomena: First, there is a lack of experience and understanding of the operation of the automobile industry, especially in marketing, such as brand building, and the delicate relationship between manufacturers and dealers for sustainable and healthy development, interaction and win-win cooperation. Second, it is difficult to communicate and resonate with the close interaction between dealers and OEMs, the distribution of benefits, as well as the appropriate requirements and support for dealers, and fail to achieve the effect of seeking common ground while reserving differences and brainstorming. Third, some executives are even short-sighted, using the slogan of "innovation" to cover up their ignorance of the operation of the automotive industry, which makes the brand take many detours. At the same time, Zeng Lintang slowly found that he did not get the support, respect and affirmation that the leaders of Leap Run should give, and his position was not firm and clear enough. 
I respect Mr. Zhu's wishes, after all, he is the boss ......But I'm under a lot of psychological pressure. Zeng Lintang responded in an interview with Bangning Studio. On 6 November, he submitted his resignation letter. Maybe Zhu Jiangming was very busy, or maybe it was some other reason, that it wasn't until November 23 that he invited Zeng Lintang to lunch to discuss Zeng's resignation. At that time, Zeng Lintang described the reasons for considering resignation, and Zhu Jiangming agreed and thanked Zeng for his objective analysis of the company's operating status, and finally accepted Zeng's resignation. On December 6, Zeng Lintang officially left Leapmotor, bringing this short-lived career experience to an end. As a professional manager, Zeng Lintang stood on the best shift. On December 5th, the last day of working at Leaprun, he also did sales skills and sales management training for the channel side of Leaprun. Many students gave positive feedback, saying that the training was very practical and easy to implement. Founded in 2015, Leapmotor, a new force in car manufacturing, was founded by Dahua Co., Ltd. (002236SZ) co-founders Zhu Jiangming and Fu Liquan jointly initiated the listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2022. The data shows that in 2023, Leapmotor (09863HK) delivered the car 14420,000 units, up 29% y/y, but far from the annual target of 200,000 units. In the third quarter of 2023, the company achieved a positive gross profit margin. On October 26, 2023, Stellantis Group announced an equity investment in Leapmotor to acquire approximately 20% of the shares and two board seats for approximately EUR 1.5 billion. After the completion of the transaction, the single largest shareholder group of Leapmotor is still a concerted actor composed of Zhu Jiangming, Fu Liquan, Liu Yunzhen (Zhu Jiangming's spouse) and Chen Ailing (Fu Liquan's spouse), Stellantis Group has become the second largest shareholder, and Dahua no longer holds shares in Leapmotor. 
Zeng Lintang has a rich automotive career, and his upbringing experience is like a Hollywood inspirational blockbuster. In 1955, Zeng Lintang was born in Hong Kong, with 5 brothers and sisters, because of his poor family, he could only sleep on the street or on the side of the road with his eldest brother before the age of 12. In December 1974, he saved enough for a one-way air ticket to study in Canada, the first quarter of tuition and the first three months of living expenses, and after finding a guarantor, he boarded a flight to Canada with his classmates, and his life turned a new page. In 1980, Zeng Lintang was rejected for a job at Toyota's 4S store, and later entered Bennett-Dunlop Ford Sales Company in Canada by chance. Over the next 14 years, he started as a salesman and served as manager of the used car department, manager of the sales department, general manager of the sales department, and finally general manager of the Ford store. He has won various honors for his hard work and tenacity: in 1982, he became one of the top 100 Ford cars sold in Canada; At its peak, he sold 286 Ford vehicles a year; Obtained the "Dealer Integrated Management" certification qualification ...... issued by NADA in the United StatesLater, he opted out because he could not agree on an agreement on an equity purchase agreement. In 1994, Hong Kong's Crown Motor Company, the main dealer for Toyota, Lexus, Hino and Daihatsu in Hong Kong, offered him an olive branch. In that year, Zeng Lintang moved his family back to Hong Kong and served as the general manager of the company's sales department. During this period, he increased the market share of Crown Motors in Hong Kong from 239% to 42%. In 1997, he was promoted to Director of the Sales Department. 
Zeng Lintang in the Lexus 4S store (data**).What really made him famous was the development of Lexus's business in China. At the end of 2002, he joined Toyota at the invitation of Akio Toyoda, then managing director of Toyota. In January 2005, he came to Beijing alone and started a Lexus China tour with 6 investors, making great contributions to Lexus China. In April 2011, Zeng Lintang resigned from Toyota (China) as deputy general manager. In 2013, he joined hands with Dah Chong Hong Group to invest in the construction and operation of Shenzhen Chaofeng Lexus store. In December 2015, he transferred all his shares to Dah Chong Hong Group, and has since stayed away from the automotive industry for a while. This time, he left after 7 months of joining Zero, and Zeng Lintang felt that it was "different ways and not conspiring with each other". "Resignation has nothing to do with age. When I was working at Leaprun, I stood up for 3 days in a row to give lectures on training courses that I had written myself. Everyone who knows me and works with me agrees that I am healthy, bold and physically like a healthy man of 55 years old, and this is my pride. He said. Zeng Lintang admitted, "Maybe I'm not perfect." "But I've always been who I am, and I've been sticking to the principles of righteousness. He said to Bang Ning's studio. Combined with this experience in Leaprun, he suggested that professional managers who have switched to new car-making forces should carefully observe the company, have an in-depth understanding of the company's operating philosophy, and see whether the company has sufficient resources, whether it has mission and ambition, whether it has determination and perseverance, and whether it has common goals and values to create a successful brand. "I still keep my original intention, mission and ambition. Zeng Lintang said. Next, he hopes to share his years of accumulated practical experience in enterprise management with China's own auto brands, contribute to the development of China's auto industry, help China's own brands become bigger and stronger, become excellent international brands, and make Chinese proud. "I believe that there are pluralistic ways to achieve my aspirations and ideals. He said.