On the eve of the intelligentization explosion, Zhijie Automobile is experiencing a brand leapfrog battle from 1 to 100.
On January 13, 2026, Zhao Changjiang, the former general manager of the Denza Sales Division, officially announced his joining of Zhijie, taking on the positions of brand executive director and executive vice - president.
This piece of news caused quite a stir in the smart car industry at the beginning of the year. Since Zhao Changjiang left BYD in October 2025, the whereabouts of this former general manager of Denza sales have always been the focus of heated discussions in the industry.
Some industry insiders analyzed that Zhao Changjiang's choice of Zhijie is not an accidental personal career choice, but an inevitable talent flow as the smart car industry moves from the first half of electrification to the second half of intelligentization. When the industry consensus shifts from "electrification replacing fuel" to "intelligentization defining value", managers with mass - production and delivery experience and the ability to operate high - end brands are becoming the scarcest resources for car companies that master core intelligent technologies. Zhao Changjiang's career choice precisely hits the pulse of the industry transformation.
This judgment is not just an individual perception, but an objective reality of industrial evolution. In December 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially announced the access permits for the first batch of L3 - level conditionally autonomous vehicles in China. Models such as Changan Shenlan SL03 and BAIC ARCFOX Alpha S have successively launched pilot operations. The policy breakthrough has cleared the key obstacles for the implementation of technologies. As Zhang Xiaorong, the dean of the Deep Technology Research Institute, said, the commercial breakthrough of L3 for the first time clearly stipulates that car companies are mainly responsible during the system takeover period, clearing the core institutional obstacles for commercialization. The smart car industry has entered a golden development period.
Zhao Changjiang regards Huawei as "one of the most important promoters of smart cars". What he values is Huawei's full - stack capabilities in smart software and hardware and ecological construction. And Chery, the backing of Zhijie, with its nearly 30 - year car - manufacturing system, provides mass - production guarantee for the implementation of technologies. This is exactly the core survival logic in the era of smart cars: the innovation ability of technology companies needs the certainty of the manufacturing industry as a foundation, and only the in - depth integration of the two can gain a firm foothold in the wave of intelligentization.
Zhijie
Zhijie V9: The crucial battle for Zhijie to achieve the leap from 1 to 100
"Zhijie has just started, and it's the time for latecomers to make great achievements." Behind Zhao Changjiang's certainty is his accurate grasp of the brand positioning of Zhijie. Zhao Changjiang tries to use the label of "intelligent pioneer" to open a gap for Zhijie in the differentiated competition. While traditional car companies are still making up for the lack in the electrification transformation and new forces are caught in the homogeneous involution, Zhijie, empowered by Huawei, has a greater chance to stand in the first echelon of intelligentization and enter a new stage from 1 to 100.
The crucial battle for this leap falls on the Zhijie V9. The Zhijie V9 is not only the first MPV in the Hongmeng Smart Mobility system, but also the "good start" battle for Zhijie in 2026. Its strategic significance far exceeds the market performance of a single model. This flagship model, developed based on Huawei's DriveONE 800V silicon carbide power platform and integrating Huawei's most advanced lidar and giant whale battery, is expected by Yu Chengdong to "surpass all flagship MPVs on the market".
The high - end MPV track has long been a fiercely competitive red ocean
In 2025, the Buick GL8 family continued to lead with sales of over 122,000 units, and the new - energy version accounted for more than half. The Denza D9 sold 93,000 units annually and remained at the top of the new - energy MPV list. Meanwhile, players such as Wei brand Gaoshan and Voyah Dreamer are rising strongly. The entry of new models such as the Leapmotor D99 in 2026 will make the competition even more intense. For the Zhijie V9 to break through, it needs to build a product barrier with the technical label of "pure - blood Hongmeng" and also requires the support of the systematic capabilities in channels, marketing, and services.
Some industry insiders analyzed that the stable monthly sales of about 10,000 units of the Denza D9 prove Zhao Changjiang's in - depth understanding of the needs of high - end MPV users. Whether this understanding can be transferred to Zhijie depends on whether the successful experience of Denza can be deeply integrated with the intelligent ecological genes of Huawei. "The product is the spear, and the system is the shield. The competition in the intelligent era has always been a coordinated battle between the spear and the shield." This is exactly the core logic for the Zhijie V9 to break through.
Zhao Changjiang has planned three paths to strengthen the system for Zhijie: establishing about 200 exclusive channel networks in 2026, constructing a digital user system for the entire life cycle, and implementing the Zhijie 2.0 strategy to strengthen brand sharpness. These three paths precisely target the "shortcomings" of Zhijie since its establishment. The construction of the exclusive channel network is to get rid of the dependence on the existing sales system and establish a brand - exclusive user experience link. The core of the digital system is to achieve the "closed - loop circulation of user voices", so that the feedback from the demand side can directly drive product iteration and service optimization. And brand sharpening is to consolidate the perception of "intelligent pioneer" in users' minds. Together, they form the transformation framework for Zhijie from "product - driven" to "user - driven".
Zhijie selects Southeast Asia as its first stop for overseas expansion
Beyond the Zhijie V9, the industry may need to pay more attention to the long - term global layout and development trend of Zhijie cars. "In the medium and long term, Zhijie still has to go global in the future. The brand positioning needs to be implemented, and the differentiated product creation needs to be realized." Zhijie has selected Southeast Asia as its first stop for overseas expansion, and this choice contains some clever thinking.
Zhijie cars
The Southeast Asian market is not only a must - fight area for Chinese smart cars to go global, but also a strategic training ground for Zhijie. The penetration rate of new - energy vehicles in this region is rising rapidly, users have a high acceptance of smart technologies, and there is no absolutely dominant high - end smart brand yet, providing a window period for Zhijie.
However, Zhao Changjiang also realizes that the challenges of going global are far greater than the opportunities. Building brand awareness requires long - term investment, the construction of the channel service system tests the localization ability, and the traditional advantages of Japanese cars in Southeast Asia cannot be ignored. Therefore, he has formulated an idea for Zhijie's overseas expansion: "first build brand awareness, then carry out infrastructure construction, and finally provide channel services". This conforms to the objective laws of emerging brands going global, but whether it can succeed depends on whether the domestic user operation experience can be combined with the market characteristics of Southeast Asia. After all, the foundation of a global brand is always the local user resonance.
Brand rejuvenation and upward development are another medium - and long - term goal of Zhijie
Zhao Changjiang said that the users of Zhijie cars "are a group of people who can accept new things and lead the times". Therefore, he proposed to "co - create and communicate with users together with Huawei and let users participate in the stage of defining the brand". This concept hits the core logic of brand building in the intelligent era.
When users transform from consumers to brand co - builders, it will form a strong word - of - mouth communication power and emotional cohesion. The user portrait of Zhijie determines the feasibility of the co - creation model, but the real challenge lies in how to establish an effective co - creation mechanism. It is not simply collecting opinions, but allowing users to deeply participate in the entire process of product definition and service design. As Zhao Changjiang said, "what users think of you is the most important." Behind this sentence is the trend of the transfer of brand sovereignty from enterprises to users in the era: the competition in intelligentization is ultimately the competition of the user ecosystem; the value of a brand is ultimately defined by the consensus of users.
When officially announcing his joining of Zhijie, Zhao Changjiang publicly stated that he would "whole - heartedly build a truly user - centered global benchmark smart brand with the team and construct a unique 'user - friendly system in the AI era' that runs through products, services, and experiences". In 2026, Zhijie cars are standing at the double junctures of the explosion of intelligentization and brand leap. Huawei's technological empowerment provides the confidence of "intelligent leadership", Chery's manufacturing system provides the guarantee of "stable mass production", and the joining of Zhao Changjiang makes up for the shortcomings in "scale growth" and "user operation".
Facing the current extremely fierce market competition, whether Zhijie can successfully break through not only concerns the fate of a single brand, but also will provide a new industry sample for the cooperation model of "technology companies + traditional car companies". In 2026, this leap - forward battle of the intelligent pioneer has already begun.