"Overseas Experience"! Han Dehong Appointed Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling

[Written by / Finance Circle & Dao Ge Auto Talk Ma Jianyu] Recently, SAIC-GM-Wuling completed a low-profile personnel adjustment. Han Dehong replaced Yao Zuoping as the Party Secretary of the company, and Yao Zuoping was transferred to serve as the General Manager Consultant of SAIC-GM-Wuling and the Director of the Technical Committee of the Smart Island Manufacturing System. According to public reports online, this adjustment took place at least half a month ago. However, the official side did not release relevant announcements, nor did it attract much media attention to the matter.

Public data shows that Yao Zuoping is now 62 years old, exceeding the statutory retirement age, and this job adjustment seems to be a transition towards retirement. Han Dehong, on the other hand, is a young-generation executive of SAIC-GM-Wuling, 44 years old this year, and is in the prime of his career. Before this adjustment, Han Dehong's public identity was the Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling.

In other words, Han Dehong's rank was further elevated after this adjustment. At the same time, considering that SAIC-GM-Wuling belongs to the SOE system, the step from "Deputy Secretary" to "Full Secretary" carries significant weight. Han Dehong, who is in the prime of his career, started serving as the Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling and concurrently as the Deputy General Manager, which also shows SAIC-GM-Wuling's emphasis on this young-generation executive.

It is worth mentioning that from Han Dehong's past experience, his appointment as the Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling also has greater practical significance in the background of the automotive sales "hot abroad but cold at home".

Over 20 Years of Service Young "Veteran" Upgraded

Public data shows that Han Dehong was born in 1982, is 44 years old this year, and there are no public records available regarding his educational background.

But his connection with SAIC-GM-Wuling is deep. In a media report from June 2025, Han Dehong recounted that he "just entered the company in 2005". In other words, the time Han Dehong entered SAIC-GM-Wuling has exceeded 20 years.

From his resume, Han Dehong has rich experience on the front lines of sales and brand communication. In June 2016, Han Dehong began to serve as the Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Sales Company. After the launch of the New Baojun brand in 2019, he served as the Deputy General Manager of New Baojun Sales Company, and subsequently held positions such as Director of New Baojun Brand Communication, Deputy Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling, and General Manager Assistant, among others.

Since September 2024, Han Dehong appeared publicly in the capacity of Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling. In terms of achievements, during Han Dehong's tenure as Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Sales Company, SAIC-GM-Wuling consistently maintained the market position of the number one single automobile company in China. After the launch of the New Baojun brand, Han Dehong, as the core operator of New Baojun, helped New Baojun establish the brand positioning of "Pioneer of Smart Cars".

At the same time, Han Dehong repeatedly emphasized in public occasions that the mission of New Baojun is to "let intelligence no longer be the privilege of high-end cars", bringing higher-level automotive technology and products into a more affordable price range. It is worth noting that looking back from today's perspective, the brand positioning proposed by the New Baojun team represented by Han Dehong at that time was highly forward-looking. After 2020, the Chinese automobile market gradually began the trend of democratization of smart technology, and the weight of intelligence in influencing consumers' car purchase choices has become increasingly important.

After serving as the Deputy Party Secretary and Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling in 2024, Han Dehong became more like a "jack-of-all-trades". According to information released on the official WeChat account of SAIC-GM-Wuling, Han Dehong deeply participated in manufacturing, government-enterprise collaboration, Sino-foreign exchange, talent cultivation, ideological construction, marketing, etc., and made important contributions to the development of SAIC-GM-Wuling.

"Overseas Experience" Highly Aligned with Wuling's Business Focus

Placed in today's market background, what is most worth attention about Han Dehong is his experience in overseas markets. Public data shows that around 2010, Han Dehong was dispatched to India to serve as the Assistant General Manager of the Indian Joint Venture (General Motors India), following Yao Zuoping, then Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling, to jointly explore the Indian market.

In February 2021, Han Dehong was transferred to SAIC-GM-Wuling Indonesia Branch as Assistant General Manager, and was later promoted to Deputy General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling Indonesia Automotive Co., Ltd., responsible for the expansion and operation of the Indonesian market. In other words, whether it is the exploration of early markets or the expansion of overseas markets in the later new energy era, Han Dehong has relatively rich experience.

And this experience is particularly important in the current Chinese automobile industry. Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on September 10 shows that the domestic market continues to face pressure, with the month-on-month decline in monthly sales exceeding 20% for 5 consecutive months; exports continue to maintain high growth, with monthly exports exceeding 1 million units for 3 consecutive months, becoming a key increment to stabilize the industry's overall performance.

Specifically, from January to August, domestic automobile sales were 13.162 million units, a year-on-year decline of 21.8%; from January to August, automobile exports were 7.153 million units, a year-on-year increase of 66.7%. For most domestic automobile companies, seeking growth in overseas markets is no longer a choice question, but a mandatory question. According to official information from SAIC-GM-Wuling, in August, SAIC-GM-Wuling achieved sales of 130,870 units, among which the overseas market contributed 38,660 units/sets. At the same time, its cumulative overseas sales broke through 1.6 million units.

It is worth noting that the overseas market is one of SAIC-GM-Wuling's current business focuses. This year, SAIC-GM-Wuling formulated the "Overseas Doubling Project", anchoring an annual sales target of 400,000 units. Then, in this context, it has more practical significance for Han Dehong, who has "overseas experience", to serve as the Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling.

Furthermore, from the public activities Han Dehong appeared in throughout the year in recent years, those related to overseas business are also not few: attended the signing ceremony between SAIC-GM-Wuling and Saudi United Motors Group (UMG) on April 24; on April 3, received Glenn G.Peñaranda, Commercial Counselor of the Philippine Embassy in China, and a row of Wuling Automobile Philippines dealers to visit SAIC-GM-Wuling Liuzhou headquarters for field inspection and exchange... In September last year, SAIC-GM-Wuling management visited the Mexican market, Han Dehong was also among them.

Today, overseas markets have become a new track that Chinese automobile companies must participate in. With Han Dehong, who has "overseas experience", taking over as the Party Secretary of SAIC-GM-Wuling, what new ideas will it bring to SAIC-GM-Wuling's overseas business breakthrough?