(Yicai) Dec. 26 -- FAW-Volkswagen Automotive, the carmaking joint venture between China's FAW Group and Germany's Volkswagen, has appointed a new general manager as part of a major management adjustment.

Chen Bin, 48, will replace Pan Zhanfu as GM of FAW-Volkswagen effective immediately, the JV announced yesterday. Chen was named deputy GM of FAW in July after jumping ship from another Chinese carmaker.

FAW-Volkswagen noted that Zhanfu would return to FAW but did not disclose the position. In addition, Wu Yingkai will replace Nie Qiang as deputy GM and become GM of the JV's sales department.

Before joining FAW, Chen served as the assistant to the president of Wuhan-based Dongfeng Motor Group and GM of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile. Chen was nicknamed "the firefighter" while at the Sino-French JV after the company saw its monthly sales recover to over 10,000 units from 5,000 units under his leadership.

FAW owns 60 percent of FAW-Volkswagen, while Volkswagen and Audi hold the rest. Set up in 1991, the JV was the top seller in the Chinese auto market from 2019 to 2021, with annual sales exceeding 2 million units, making it an important profit source for FAW.

However, hurdles began to appear for FAW-Volkswagen as the competition in the Chinese car market became increasingly fierce. The company set its annual sales target at between 1.9 million and 2 million vehicles this year but sold just 1.43 million units in the 11 months ended Nov. 30. Its sales topped 1.9 million last year.

FAW-Volkswagen also began offering large discounts on many of its models, compressing its operating profit margin.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev