Zhu Huarong and the New Changan at a Historical Turning Point

"Our goal is to achieve a production and sales scale of 5 million vehicles by 2030."

At the founding conference of China Changan Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: New Changan) on July 29 this year, Party Secretary and Chairman Zhu Huarong passionately outlined the blueprint for New Changan to the outside world.

Invest 200 billion yuan over the next 10 years to break into the top ten global automotive brands and become a world-class automotive brand.

At the Chang'an Automobile intelligent strategy launch event on February 9 this year, Zhu Huarong's hurried demeanor was already captured by the media, "It seems like Chairman Zhu is not quite in the zone today."

On the same day, Changan Automobile and Dong'an Power under China South Industries Group Corporation, and Dongfeng Motor Group's subsidiaries Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., and Dongfeng Technology simultaneously announced:

"We have received a notice from the controlling shareholder that the controlling shareholder is planning a restructuring with other state-owned central enterprises."

The Chinese automotive industry is becoming increasingly competitive, seemingly causing a turning point in the course of history.

Once Dongfeng and Chang'an complete their integration, it means that the central enterprise players, who were once considered unlikely to exit the table, will first undergo partial "clearing."

Zhu Huarong

In 2023, Professor Zhu Xichan from Tongji University made a statement suggesting that the future Chinese automobile market might have only 13 entry tickets: 3 for central state-owned enterprises, 3 for local state-owned enterprises, 3 for private enterprises, 3 for new car manufacturers, and 1 for Tesla.

Zhu Xi also added, "In addition to the 3 tickets for state-owned enterprises and 1 ticket for Tesla, which other companies can obtain the remaining 9 tickets?"

Coincidentally, Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan, also believes that the competitive landscape of Chinese car companies basically consists of three central enterprises: FAW, Dongfeng, and Changan, three local state-owned enterprises, three traditional independent brands, and three new car-making forces.

In fact, outside of academia and the business world, the three major state-owned enterprises seem to be the "iron-capped kings" of China's automotive market.

However, in 2025, an "unsuccessful merger" between Dongfeng and Changan made everyone realize that:

There are no permanent kings in the Chinese car market, not even state-owned enterprises.

However, although the "unsuccessful merger" between Dongfeng and Changan in 2025 did not materialize, the "sword of Damocles" hanging over them has not moved far away.

From a more macro perspective, the merger and reorganization of central enterprises has become an inevitable trend. In 2025, China State Shipbuilding Corporation will merge with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in the shipbuilding sector. China's largest rare earth company, China Rare Earth, has also stated it will timely promote the integration and reorganization of internal and external rare earth assets.

The integration of central enterprises in the shipbuilding and rare earth industries indicates a trend that, under the top-level design of national strategy, industry consolidation will become a trend.

For Chang'an, a "failed restructuring" has instead shaped a new central enterprise—New Chang'an.

On June 5th, when the news of the "attempted restructuring" was released, Dongfeng's stock price plummeted by 14.4%, while Changan rose by 3.4%.

Who can benefit from this "unsuccessful restructuring"? The capital market has already provided the answer.

After all, Dongfeng, as a first-level central enterprise (deputy ministerial level), has an administrative level advantage over Chang'an, which is a second-level central enterprise (departmental level). Therefore, there are concerns in the outside world about whether the "restructuring" will turn into Dongfeng "absorbing" Chang'an.

In this context, as the leader, Zhu Huarong historically upgraded the second-tier central enterprise Changan Automobile to the first-tier central enterprise New Changan. At this crucial juncture in Changan Automobile's history, Zhu Huarong led the company to successfully navigate a decisive transition from the past to the future.

In the context of the unprecedented changes in the global automotive industry over the past century, how to lead New Changan to reach new heights is another historical answer Zhu Huarong needs to deliver.

In this answer sheet, Avatr and Deep Blue Auto will be the two crucial segments.

Activate Avita

"In the future, the only brand I will directly manage is Avita."

At a recent event, Zhu Huarong told the media that if he gradually steps back from specific brand operations in the future, then Avatr would be the last brand he manages.

In fact, Zhu Huarong has already stepped down from his position as chairman of Avita, but he still holds the position of director of the Avita Work Research Committee within the new Chang'an, thereby managing Avita.

According to relevant regulations, the leaders of first-level central enterprises are not allowed to hold leadership positions in enterprises funded by their own enterprise without approval.

For the new Changan, Avatr is extremely important.

It is significant that Chang'an Automobile will list Avita as the only "important joint venture or associate company" in its financial reports for 2023 and 2024.

Before Changan Automobile, the only company that could enjoy this special treatment was Changan Ford.

From Changan Automobile's 2014 financial report to the 2022 financial report, Changan Ford has consistently been "considered an important joint venture of the group, having a significant impact on the share of profits and losses of joint ventures and associates." During its peak performance period, Changan Ford's net profit alone exceeded 9 billion RMB.

The chairman of Changan Automobile also serves as the chairman of Changan Ford.

However, as the Chinese automotive industry and Changan Automobile began their transformation, the fuel vehicle business of joint ventures gradually gave way to the smart electric vehicle segment of independent brands, and Avatr has consequently replaced Changan Ford.

Even though the new Chang'an has already been born, Zhu Huarong still cannot afford to be complacent; he must remain on the "front line" of Avita.

After all, major state-owned automotive companies are actively embracing Huawei, and even when there are clearly only four "boundaries" of HarmonyOS, SAIC Motor still created the fifth boundary of HarmonyOS.

Therefore, 11 days after the establishment of New Chang'an, Zhu Huaron personally visited Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. The two sides exchanged insights on industry competition dynamics and future competitive landscape. Zhu Huaron also stated on social media, "Mr. Ren provided targeted and guiding suggestions to support Chang'an Automobile and the Avita brand."

Source of the image: Zhu Huarong's social media

Avatr, as the only car company with the Huawei HI model, is highly valued by Zhu Huarong, who has stated, "As long as Avatr needs it, Changan Automobile will fully support it, providing money if money is needed, people if people are needed, and technology if technology is needed."

For Avatr after the establishment of the new Changan, Zhu Huarong further stated that previous commitments are not only valid but also "will provide mechanisms if needed and ecosystems if needed."

In the first eight months of this year, Avita's cumulative sales have reached 80,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 119.2%. However, despite the rapid growth, Avita is still some distance away from its annual target of 220,000 units.

For the future, Zhu Huarong has also clearly positioned Avatr.

On one hand, Avita plans to launch 5 upgraded models by 2026 and a total of 17 models by 2030. At the same time, they regard globalization as a key mission and have set a target of achieving global sales of 400,000 units by 2027.

On the other hand, in addition to continuing to deepen its cooperation with Huawei, New Changan is also accelerating the development of the SDA automotive platform to avoid technological dependency. As an important vehicle platform for New Changan, the SDA architecture will provide technical support for multiple independent brands, including Deep Blue Auto. Deep Blue Auto, being another important segment of New Changan, has also entered a critical phase of its reform.

Deep Blue Automobile, Deep Reform

For New Chang'an, while Avita represents the external collaboration between the group and Huawei, Deep Blue Automotive is almost an absorption and internalization of lessons learned from Huawei, especially in terms of personnel systems and management mechanisms. The "Huawei" content in Deep Blue Automotive is rapidly increasing.

On September 8, Deep Blue Auto announced an important personnel appointment on the eve of the 2025 Autumn New Product Global Launch. Jiang Hairong, the former Chief Marketing Officer of Honor China, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Deep Blue Auto.

"Chairman Zhu Huarong met with Jiang Hairong two weeks ago and they hit it off immediately." On September 8, Deng Chenghao, chairman of Deep Blue Automotive, disclosed this detail to media such as Yiou Automotive.

The deep reason for quickly settling on Jiang Hairong is that Deep Blue Auto is comprehensively learning from Huawei.

In recent years, both traditional car manufacturers and new car-making forces have followed the trend of learning from Huawei in terms of systems and mechanisms, and Changan Automobile is no exception.

However, during this process, many companies rely solely on external observation for learning, which is not effective, and as a result, they miss out on some good opportunities in the highly competitive automotive market.

"We can explore slowly on our own, but perhaps after a few years of exploration, the market will no longer give us opportunities," Deng Chenghao told the media. "Since Deep Blue wants to learn Huawei's IPD and IDMS, the best way to learn is to recruit people who have experience in these areas at Huawei. If we can find someone who has practical product experience at Huawei and can work around the IPD and IDMS processes, it would be a tremendous leap for Deep Blue Automotive's system capabilities and process capabilities. Jiang Hairong is such a person."

Chenghao Deng (center), Hairong Jiang (right), Pan Li, General Manager of Deep Blue Auto Brand (left)

However, some analysts have pointed out that for Deep Blue Auto, the significance of bringing in Jiang Hairong is certainly not just about aligning systems and mechanisms with Huawei.

As a traditional automaker, Jiang Hairong will also bring the product mindset of Huawei Honor into Deep Blue Auto. If this combination of Deng Chenghao and Jiang Hairong can integrate the manufacturing genes of New Changan with the product philosophy of Huawei Honor, the energy that will be unleashed will be immense.

In this interview, Chenghao Deng also emphasized this point: "My understanding is more from the perspective of the automotive industry, which means I am like 'only seeing the mountain from within it.' However, Hairong Jiang can bring new insights by looking at the automotive industry from the perspective of the ICT industry, and he will bring something different."

Currently, in the face of the wave of intelligence in the automotive industry, particularly the new impact brought by the rise of artificial intelligence on the automotive sector.

Zhu Huarong also emphasized within the new Changan that software capability, work efficiency, and AI capability should be regarded as core competencies.

As a veteran who joined Huawei in 2005, Jiang Hairong has extensive experience in product and operations within the company, with a deep understanding of software and artificial intelligence, which is exactly what New Chang'an and Deep Blue need.

"We place great importance on Jiang Hairong's understanding of intelligent connected products." In Deng Chenghao's view, the current transformation of the automotive industry is driven and mutually promoted by both electrification and intelligence. Jiang Hairong has worked on mobile phone product lines and software development, possessing real practical experience.

Deng Chenghao himself comes from an electrification background. "This is complementary for us; I bring the electrification, and he brings the intelligence, making us both intelligent and electric."

Since 2025, Deep Blue Auto's cumulative sales in the first eight months have reached approximately 199,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 64.6%.

At the end of 2024's events and the investor communication meeting in April 2025, Deng Chenghao and Zhu Huarong both stated on separate occasions that Deep Blue Automotive has achieved phase profitability. In addition, the 2024 financial report shows that Deep Blue Automotive has contributed 23% to Changan Automobile's overall revenue.

Against the backdrop of stable performance, accelerated reforms, and the establishment of New Chang'an, the combination of Deng Chenghao and Jiang Hairong undoubtedly raises greater expectations from the outside world.

This is not only related to the company performance and product overseas expansion of New Chang'an, but also a key part of internalizing Huawei's organizational mechanism and product thinking within New Chang'an.

If the advantages of Huawei and New Chang'an can be integrated through the introduction of talent and institutionalized learning, then the "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the three major state-owned enterprises may never fall on New Chang'an, and Zhu Huarong will lead New Chang'an to achieve ultimate reform in the AI era.