(Yicai Global) July 25 -- Leapmotor has appointed a former executive at Toyota Motor China Investment as an assistant and consultant to Chairman Zhu Jiangming to help the electric vehicle startup with its strategic development.

Zeng Lintang has a deep practical business experience ranging from salesperson through brand director, along with outstanding skills in precision marketing, Zhu told Yicai Global yesterday.

EV startups are unfamiliar with the operating rules of the traditional auto market, and only by bringing in managers from traditional carmakers can they grasp the market better, according to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.

Zeng's experience in channel and brand building and corporate management likely appealed to Leapmotor, which aims to increase the number of channels and expand its coverage. The Hangzhou-based carmaker plans to lift the number of its showrooms by 37 percent to 800 this year from 2022.

Hong Kong-born Zeng joined Toyota Motor in 2003 as a director of its Lexus division and became the firm's deputy general manager two years later before leaving in 2011 and fading from public view. Lexus' annual sales in China jumped to 50,000 in 2010 from 5,000 before he stepped in.

Some other marketing executives from traditional carmakers have joined EV startups during the past six months. Wang Fengying, former president of Great Wall Motor, and Yi Han, a former executive of Geely Automobile Holdings, went to Xpeng Motors.

Leapmotor’s deliveries have fallen since last October. After launching hybrid models and lowering prices in March, monthly shipments rebounded, but sales were stuck at about 10,000 units in the past two months. Its EV sales fell 14.4 percent to 44,503 in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, making it hard to reach a 200,000 target for this year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev