NIO’s autonomous driving veteran Zhang Jianyong said to leave

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Zhang Jianyong, the Associate Vice-President of Autonomous Driving at NIO, is about to leave the EV startup in the near future, according to a local media outlet, citing people familiar with the matter.

Joining NIO in 2015, Zhang is responsible for the R&D and assembly of NIO's autonomous driving system and directly reports to William Bin Li, Chairman and CEO of NIO. He has significantly contributed to the building of NIO's autonomous driving R&D system and the operation of the startup's first- and second-generation platforms.

Before he joined NIO, Zhang served the state-owned SAIC Motor to work on the R&D of autonomous driving products and technologies.

After leaving NIO, Zhang will start his own business in the field of automotive chips, according to the aforementioned report. William Bin Li has expressed his interest in investing in Zhang's startup project.

NIO's autonomous driving business is composed of four units, which are dedicated to hardware, operating system & data security, algorithm, and autonomous driving system (internally dubbed “AS”). Directors of the four groups all directly report to William Bin Li.

Led by Zhang Jianyong, NIO's autonomous driving system unit currently has nearly 400 staff members, according to the report. It is said to be restructured after Zhang's departure.