Huang Jian Takes Charge, Is The Familiar GAC Trumpchi Back?

With the final month of the first half of the year already here, GAC Trumpchi has yet to announce its sales figures. But judging from earlier data, this homegrown brand, which once enjoyed a period of glory, seems to be increasingly regaining its rhythm. Under Huang Jian’s leadership, is the familiar Trumpchi making a comeback?

Peak, decline, recovery

Ten years ago, the GS4 emerged, helping GAC Motor become a car brand with annual sales of 500,000 units, but it quickly declined in just a few years. This dark horse always evokes a sense of regret.

Later, Trumpchi experienced another surge in popularity thanks to its MPV models. However, the overall MPV market is not very large, and even being the champion in a niche segment makes it difficult to return to its former peak. Moreover, in the era of new energy vehicles, more cost-effective new energy MPVs have dealt a huge blow to Trumpchi’s traditional fuel-powered MPVs. Although corresponding models were later introduced, the era of dominating the market has already passed.

From January to April 2026, GAC Trumpchi's cumulative sales reached 112,940 vehicles, an increase of 20.29% year-on-year. If everything goes as expected, this year's sales will surpass last year's, gradually returning from a yearly sales figure in the 30,000 range to the 40,000 range.

Under Huang Jian’s leadership, the familiar GAC Trumpchi seems to be truly coming back.

Corruption, replacement, perseverance

In 2024, Zhang Yue sai retired, and was investigated a year later. It is said that the extent of his corruption was astonishing.

Publicly available information shows that in July 2019, Zhang Yuesai was transferred to serve as General Manager of GAC Motor, officially taking full charge of Trumpchi. Under his leadership, although Trumpchi made certain changes, its overall competitiveness remained weak. Public controversies triggered by the Yingbao’s transmission failures and the E8’s reduced driving range dealt a significant blow to the brand.

In March 2025, Huang Yongqiang took over as head of GAC’s Brand Marketing Division, while Guo Baixun was put in charge of the Trumpchi Marketing Division. A self-rescue campaign for the homegrown brand began.

In less than a year, in January 2026, the GAC Trumpchi Business Unit (BU) was established, with Huang Jian appointed as the president of the Trumpchi BU, and Li An and Wang Yu as vice presidents. Guo Baixun, who was originally in charge of Trumpchi, suddenly stopped updating his social media platforms. Furthermore, several months later, an announcement was made public—Huang Yongqiang resigned from his position as vice general manager of the company due to organizational work arrangements.

However, the description that “after resigning, he will no longer hold any position in the company” makes this personnel change rather puzzling.

In any case, the weathered Trumpchi remains a phenomenal brand—one that GAC can trust and one worth standing by.

For now, it is still too early to say that Trumpchi has returned to its peak. The model propping up Trumpchi’s sales is still the M8, while the GS3, priced at under 100,000 yuan, is unable to uphold the brand’s high-end image. Most crucially, although the Xiangwang series has been on the market for quite some time, it has so far generated more buzz than actual results.

An outlet for GAC Trumpchi to go further, but only when the domestic market is strong can it truly be strong. Huang Jian still has a long way to go and must persevere.