(Yicai) March 12 -- Lotus Cars, a UK luxury carmaker owned by China's Geely Holding Group, has appointed Qin Peiji, the former chief operating officer of its parent company’s joint venture Polestar Technology, as president of its Chinese arm.

Qin Peiji takes over from Mao Jingbo at Wuhan-based Lotus Technology, Lotus Cars announced today. Mao was reassigned as chief strategy officer. Polestar Tech's ex-chief marketing officer, Jia Xiaohui, has also come onboard, it added, without disclosing her new role.

The c-suite shakeup aims to strengthen the synergy between Lotus's China operations and its global strategy, Lotus Cars said.

Qin has been working at the Chinese arm of Volvo Cars since 2011 and was appointed president of its local sales unit in 2019. In August 2023, he was named deputy general manager of Geely's auto sales unit before joining Polestar Tech last June.

Rumors about senior management changes at Lotus began circulating earlier this month. Yicai learned that Lotus China's Vice President Lu Yulin and marketing chief Qiao Xinyu would leave the company.

Lotus faces many challenges in the Chinese market. Its electrification path in the ultra-luxury segment has not yet fully taken shape, as the adoption of such EVs still lags the mainstream market. In addition, competition has intensified with the entry of new players, such as Xiaomi.

Polestar Tech, the joint venture of Geely's Swedish EV brand Polestar and handset vendor Xingji Meizu, oversees the Gothenburg-based company's business in China. Polestar, a high-performance EV brand set up by Volvo and Geely, went public in New York in June 2022.

Editor: Martin Kadievyisi