(Yicai) Nov. 6 -- Changan Automobile, a state-owned carmaker, is looking ahead into the future of smart vehicles by shifting its focus to hiring talent with a skillset of hardware and software, poaching executives from Baidu, Volkswagen Group, and Huawei Technologies since September.

The Chongqing-based automotive company has been snatching key talent from internet and telecoms firms, as well as rivaling carmakers, after introducing its 'new auto, new ecology' strategy in late August. Changan Auto will invest CNY200 billion (USD27.5 million) and add a team of over 10,000 people to advance scientific and technological innovation by 2030, per the strategy.

Shortly after in September the maker of Eado and Alsvin models said Tao Ji, former general manager at an autonomous driving division of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group and former chief executive at Autra Tech, a developer of Level-4 driverless trucks, has joined Changan Auto to be in charge of smart driving technologies.

Later, the firm said Klaus Zyciora, former global design head at Volkswagen, joined the Chinese company as vice president in charge of global design. Moreover, Changan Auto managed to poach Han Sanchu, former chief technology officer of global technology services at Huawei, in 2021 to lead the development of its SDA smart electric platform.

Next, the campaign targets young talent as Chairman Zhu Huarong and President Wang Jun recently visited Tsinghua University before going to Tongji University to attract fresh graduates.

Wang said that the demand for talent is changing to people who have knowledge of software and hardware instead of just machinery and vehicles. Besides being familiar with car structure and working principles, auto talents also need to know how to code, he added.

New car startups lure talent with high salaries but Changan Auto has several strategies such as co-investment in new projects and profit-sharing, bonus deferral, and vested equity, to make sure new talent stays with the company for long.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Emmi Laine