Almost at the same time, Xpeng Motors and Leapmotor were both exposed to the news of executive changes. The difference is that the personnel changes of Xpeng Motors are larger, and the high-level changes of Leapmotor are more interesting.
On January 23, it was revealed that Wu Baojun, co-founder and president of Leapmotor, had resigned, and Leapmotor would no longer have the position of president in the future.
The sudden resignation of the co-creator and president of a first-line new car-making force is really a blockbuster news in the market. So much so that as soon as the news came out, it immediately triggered a lot of ** reports. The reason for Wu Baojun's resignation has become a point of doubt.
Under the speculation of many parties, Leaprun's official Weibo gave the reason through a statement on the afternoon of January 24: Mr. Wu Baojun's labor contract has expired and terminated on January 8, 2024, and the company will not renew his employment by the resolution of the board of directors.
However, a closer look will find that this statement does not mention Wu Baojun's former position as president, nor does it thank him for his career in Leap, but only emphasizes that "Mr. Wu Baojun has been mainly responsible for strategic development and public affairs related work in the past year" to show that he has long faded out of the front line.
Unexpectedly, this statement further sparked heated discussions.
Some netizens bluntly said, "The word "no longer renewing employment is rarely seen publicly, and it can be said that it is fried." Another netizen speculated: "Generally, good gatherings and good dispersal will announce "family, life, and personal" reasons. It must have been a fall out now."
On January 25, Wu Baojun issued a response to his resignation from Leapmotor.
Wu Baojun confirmed that his employment contract with Leapmotor was terminated on January 8, 2024. On January 19, the board of directors resolved by communication that it would no longer serve as the president of Leapmotor Technology and still serve as a director.
At the same time, he also said, "Unfortunately, I had to leave the Leapmotor that I co-founded, I love the Leapmotor business very much, but due to the expiration of the labor contract, the company proposed not to renew the contract." It is expressed between the lines that resignation is not Wu Baojun's original intention.
For the more than three years of Leap Run, Wu Baojun believes that "I have exceeded expectations and achieved the three major goals of the employment agreement I signed before I came to the company." ”
According to public information, Wu Baojun joined Leapmotor in May 2020 as a co-founder, and served as a director and president, responsible for the company's business development, marketing and manufacturing, and chain management.
In the year when Wu Baojun joined the company, Leapmotor solved the problem of production qualification; In September 2022, Leapmotor was successfully listed; In October 2023, Leaprun entered into a cooperation agreement with Stellantis Group. During Wu Baojun's tenure, Leapmotor's sales soared, from 10,000 units in 2020 to 14 units in 202340,000 units.
In the eyes of the outside world, Wu Baojun's joining Leapmotor has indeed led to the development of Leapmotor in channel construction, marketing, investment and financing. This is evidenced by the continuous increase in sales of Leap.
The question is, since Wu Baojun has achieved the expected goal, why didn't he get the renewal of Leap's contract? For all sorts of reasons, we don't know.
But judging from the previous personnel changes of Leap, Wu Baojun was gradually marginalized.
In the second half of 2022, Xu Jun and Zhang Weili of the "Huawei Department" joined Leapmotor one after another. In January 2023, Xu Jun was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, in charge of sales and service. Weili Zhang has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for marketing and user operations.
Xu Jun, Zhang Weili and other "Huawei departments" have been reused, and gradually decompose the front-line businesses such as business development, marketing, manufacturing, and first-line chains that Wu Baojun was originally in charge of. After the listing of Leap, Wu Baojun turned to be responsible for strategic development and public affairs, and the management affairs changed from real to virtual. Since then, Wu Baojun has had fewer and fewer opportunities to appear in public, and he is rarely even seen in interviews when the new car is released.
In November 2023, Leap International Commerce (Shanghai)** will undergo industrial and commercial changes, and Wu Baojun will step down as the legal representative. The move was seen as a sign of withdrawal from the outside world.
It is worth mentioning that on December 16, 2023, Wu Baojun posted an excerpt commenting on the Dong Yuhui incident:
Because in essence, someone else is the king, you are the general, Yang Xiu offended Cao Cao, you see what the good end is. Han Xin's credit was so great, and he was finally clicked by Liu Bang. Rabbits and dead dogs cook, birds are hidden, this is almost a historical inevitability, the greater the credit, the more humble and loyal efforts, to give the company enough security.
The true meaning of this excerpt is known only to Wu Baojun himself. However, judging from the remarks of both parties and the speculation in the market, Wu Baojun's resignation does not seem to be pleasant.
However, it's normal for a company to make personnel changes in real time. Wu Baojun's resignation was indeed due to the expiration of the labor contract and was not renewed. Wu Baojun also mentioned in his response, "Employees are weak and helpless for huge enterprise organizations. "The person concerned can't change anything, and the outsider can't say anything.
Now that you can leave after three years of meritorious service, it seems that Leap's determination is about to change.