(Yicai) Feb. 5 -- Zeng Qinghong, chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group, has retired and will be succeeded by General Manager Feng Xingya, who has worked at the Chinese auto giant for over 20 years.

Zeng recently submitted his resignation letter to GAC's board of directors upon retiring, the carmaker said late yesterday. His successor Feng is also chairman of the firm's passenger car brand Trumpchi, electric vehicle brand Aion, and sales and service unit GAC International, it added.

Feng joined GAC in December 2004 as the deputy head of the sale department for GAC Toyota Motor, a joint venture with Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor, before being promoted to executive vice president in 2008. Due to his outstanding performance at the JV, he was appointed executive VP of GAC in 2013 and has served as GM since 2016.

Zeng served as a senior executive of GAC for an extended period before becoming chairman in 2016. He advanced the state-owned enterprise management system reform during his tenure, driving the rapid development of Trumpchi and Aion. He was named one of China's 50 most influential business leaders by Fortune magazine in 2018.

At the Guangzhou Auto Show last November, Feng said that GAC plans for its self-owned brands to account for more than 60 percent of total sales by 2027, targeting to sell 2 million such autos a year.

GAC sold just over 2 million vehicles last year, with Trumpchi and Aion accounting for 790,000 units.

Shares of GAC [SHA: 601238] closed up 2.2 percent to CNY8.79 (USD1.21) in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2238] fell 0.3 to HKD3.08 (40 US cents).

Editor: Martin Kadiev