Qoros leadership to see shake-up according to internal memo

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai December 18) - Although its primary shareholder Israel Corporation previously stated that it doesn’t have a set timeline for profits from Qoros, information has been surfacing that the company is at least a little disturbed by the lack of strong results coming from the new brand.

According to a report appearing in China Business News today, an internal document from Qoros’ HR department to its staff stated that Guo Qian will leave Qoros’ parent Chery, thereby handing the role of Qoros CEO and Board Chairman to Chery Deputy President and Jaguar Land Rover Board Chairman Chen Anning. He will be joined by Shi Qingren. The document also stated that Marketing and Sales Executive Director Wei Sifan is leaving the company, with his position being replaced by former Geely official Sun Xiaodong.

Many analysts have hypothesized that Mr. Chen’s departure from the company is due to Qoros’ poor sales. As a new automobile brand, Qoros was founded as a 50:50 joint venture between Israel Corp. and Chery in December 2007. Over the past seven years, Qoros has released two new models: the Qoros 3 Sedan and Qoros 3 Hatchback. However the Qoros 3’s sales performance has been very poor. According to statistics, Qoros’ total sales so far this year has been less than 6,000 units. The internal document stated that the Qoros brand needs to change its goals to boost its competitiveness.

A day before the internal document appeared in the press, Qoros announced its first SUV model in Shanghai: the Qoros 3 Urban SUV (pictured). The 1.6 L turbocharged SUV will be priced between 139,900 RMB and 179,900 RMB ($22,871-$29,410). Although its pricing remains in line with rival models, how competitive the Qoros 3 SUV will be remains to be seen.