NBC Nightly News: China auto market
Struggling Sino-Israeli car boot Qoros shook his management for the second time in a year as it seeks to boost sales and chart a new course in the automotive industry and fast moving technology driven.
The Shanghai-based company on Wednesday said Phil Murtaugh, the former head of China's General Motors was installed as chief executive in February Qoros, leave the group this month for personal reasons.
The announcement was accompanied by a sudden change of direction for Qoros as he unveiled two new business units a focus on electric cars and another in the search for alternative economic models and automotive technologies self-driving.
Commenting on the departure of M. Murtaugh, Dan Cohen, Qoros vice president, said what was missing and what shareholders were hoping to speak, a, higher sales, and secondly, we wanted to see a car company that is not just another manufacturer which is a unique player who has been very difficult and slow to develop.
He added Qoros wanted a leader who was more like Silicon Valley.
Qoros was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Chery Auto, a domestic Chinese automaker belonging to the state, and Israel Corp. conglomerate controlled by Idan Ofer billionaire based in London.
With a team of European engineers, the company set about building cars that go beyond other Chinese domestic products.
But despite dreams of being the first GM to come out of China, Qoros has so far failed to gain traction strong sales in 2015, to 14,000 cars, fell away from the target 35,000.
However, Tesla Motors Another important autostart __gVirt_NP_NN_NNPS<__ up, livré plus de 50.000 voitures en 2015.
Sous M. Murtaugh, Qoros lui-même avait fixé un objectif de générer un bénéfice d'exploitation d'ici 2018.
a consulting firm, Bill Russo CEO Advisory Gao Feng, said the Qoros business model was based on the volumes of hundreds of thousands.
Gone is the rhythm of a viable business case for the prosecution, he added, they should pursue a different approach because they fail as classic car manufacturer on request electric mobility is a logical choice for a Chinese company but they need a partner that can provide a platform for connecting end users of these services.
The company said Wednesday that M. Murtaugh, formerly CEO of Coda, an electric car would be replaced starter, failed temporarily Anning Chen, president Qoros He also chairs joint venture with Chery Jaguar Land Rover.
Qoros and its shareholders, including Kenon Holdings, which controls Israel Investments Corp. hope a new sport utility vehicle, called Qoros 5, will help accelerate sales when it arrives at dealerships in March, but Robin Zhu, an analyst at Bernstein Research, said the brand was still fairly unknown to most Chinese.
With only about 100 dealerships in China to be built or in the works, Qoros lack the scale of small high-end brands like Cadillac and Volvo, with between 200 and 250 points of sale, and car manufacturers of mass market, usually more than 500.
Phil Murtaugh in Los Angeles March 16, 2012 Photo Reuters.
SHANGHAI Chinese automaker start Qoros Automotive Co has appointed the former head of General Motors Co China operations as its new CEO in order to revive its fortunes in the largest automotive market in the world.
Phil Murtaugh's appointment is effective immediately, a statement on the company's Web site dated Monday, said he succeeds Guo Qian, who resigned in December as president and CEO to return to Qoros Chery Automobile Co as partner Qoros spokesman M. Guo Couldn t be reached for comment and a spokesman for Chery said he had no comment.
Qoros produces cars in China and is a 50-50 joint venture between China-based Chery and Israeli investment firm Israel Corp. He had hoped to woo customers in China with a mix of quality and affordability But selling brand just under 7,000 cars in China last year, the first year of sales of the company, according to automotive consulting prospective data.
In October, M. Guo told the Wall Street Journal that the awareness of the new Chinese car brand in China was falling short of company expectations Anning Chen, a Chery executive, succeeded Mr. Guo as president.
Stefano Villanti, responsible for sales, marketing and product strategy, recently left the company, he told the Wall Street Journal last October the company's start-up period was more difficult than expected M. Villanti could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In November, Israel Corp's controlling shareholder, billionaire Idan Ofer, reaffirmed its support for Qoros This followed reports in the Chinese media that the company planned to retire from the company.
M. Murtaugh is credited in the automotive industry to be a pioneer of the early success of GM in China and spent nearly 16 years in the country most recently, M. Murtaugh led the Chinese electric car maker Coda invested defunct Automotive Inc.
Bill Russo General Manager Gao Feng advisory consultancy that worked briefly with M. Murtaugh Chrysler in China, said Mr. Murtaugh challenge will be to create a car that appeals to buyers, whether in China or elsewhere.
The question is whether the world is waiting for a Chinese car upscale So far, the market says no, M. Russo said.
Qoros Archive Bill Russo, Qoros, Bill Russo, Bill Russo management.