Nearly 30 senior executives were replaced within just two months, 13 major brands are being integrated, and the most drastic integration wave in the automotive industry has arrived.
If there is one word to define China's automotive industry in the past two months, it is — integration. Over the last two months, China's auto sector has witnessed an unprecedented wave of integration.
From FAW's equity participation in GAC, to the integration of Deepal and Avatr, two major brands under Changan, to the product line streamlining and organizational restructuring of Xpeng, and even the adjustment of the cooperation model between Seres and Huawei, 12 major automakers and 13 major automotive brands have taken intensive actions, almost simultaneously shifting the focus of reform to organizational efficiency improvement and supply chain collaboration.
The change of organizational structure is followed by intensive personnel adjustments. According to incomplete statistics from CheDongXi, nearly 30 senior executives of automakers have reported new job movements in the past two months, the high density and wide scope of integration actions of mainstream domestic automakers are extremely rare in the history of China's automotive industry.
Sorting out the job movements of senior executives in the automotive industry from August to October 2026
This is not an ordinary industry adjustment, but sends an important signal: China's automotive industry is shifting from the "scale expansion" stage to the "stock optimization" stage. The industry has bid farewell to extensive growth, and how to build the organization and improve efficiency has become an unavoidable challenge for all automakers.
01. Large-scale integration sweeps the automotive industry, brand integration and external cooperation are intensively implemented
Over the past two months, a number of highly concerned integration events have emerged in the automotive industry. From brand integration to capital cooperation and technology sharing, more and more automakers are sitting at the same table, the depth and breadth of cooperation are both upgrading.
At the end of September 2026, it was reported that the integration of Deepal and Avatr, the two major brands under Changan Automobile, may see substantial progress. Changan Automobile may have notified the establishment of a first-level department, the AD Coordinated Development Department, to undertake corresponding businesses entrusted by Deepal Auto and Avatr.
Changan Deepal and Avatr are pushing forward the integration of the two brands
In this regard, CheDongXi verified with Changan Automobile, and an internal insider confirmed that the news of the establishment of the AD Coordinated Development Department is true, this move is conducive to promoting more efficient and coordinated development of Avatr and Deepal brands, avoiding repeated investment, reducing costs, improving efficiency, and investing resources in user experience and technological innovation.
Changan tries to promote the group to improve efficiency and reduce costs through brand integration. As early as April 21 this year, Changan Automobile Group held the Global Strategy Launch and Global Partner Conference. Relevant media reports said that Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said at the post-meeting communication meeting that the two brands of Avatr and Deepal will be strategically integrated, and put forward the goal that the annual sales of mid-to-high-end automotive brands will reach 1.5 million units by 2030 (overseas sales account for more than 40%), including 500,000 units for Avatr and 1 million units for Deepal.
Changan Automobile Group held the Global Strategy Launch and Global Partner Conference
Apart from the integration of independent brands, joint venture entities are also adjusting.
On October 8, 2026, China FAW, Toyota Motor, and GAC Group signed a new strategic cooperation framework agreement in Guangzhou.
China FAW, Toyota Motor, and GAC Group have reached a new strategic cooperation
Through mutual consultation among the three parties, GAC Group plans to acquire 50% equity of FAW Toyota held by China FAW by issuing shares. After the transaction is completed, FAW Toyota will continue to exist as an independent operating entity, and China FAW will become an important strategic shareholder of GAC Group. In the next stage, FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota will jointly undertake the functions of R&D, procurement, production, sales and other functions of the joint ventures.
Under the new cooperation framework, China FAW, Toyota Motor, and GAC Group will jointly support FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota to promote each other and continuously improve their competitiveness. The three parties will give full play to their respective advantages to empower the two joint ventures to accelerate the development of electrification and intelligence.
At this point, the rumor of "restructuring between GAC and FAW" that has spread for nearly a month has finally come to an end.
Not only the joint venture system is facing adjustments, but the capital and technological cooperation between new power brands and traditional automakers is also deepening.
Geely Holding and NIO corporate buildings
On September 28, NIO Group announced that it has reached a formal agreement with Geely Holding Group on strategic transactions of battery swapping and charging businesses. A subsidiary of Geely Holding Group will subscribe for the newly issued equity of NIO Energy Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. with 100% equity of Yiyi Internet Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. it holds, plus RMB 640 million in cash.
NIO Group announced that it has reached a formal agreement with Geely Holding Group on charging and battery swapping businesses
After the transaction is completed, the subsidiary of Geely Holding Group will hold 30.0% of the total equity of NIO Energy, and NIO's subsidiary NIO Holdings Co., Ltd. will continue to hold 63.6% controlling stake of NIO Energy, and the post-investment valuation of NIO Energy is about RMB 16 billion.
At the same time, NIO Holdings Co., Ltd. will subscribe for the newly issued equity of Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in cash, which will be used to purchase certain charging assets from NIO. After the transaction is completed, NIO Holdings will hold 10.0% of the total equity of Haohan Energy.
An Conghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, said: "The energy replenishment network is a public infrastructure for the whole society, which should be jointly built, shared and interconnected". This cooperation is expected to enhance the capabilities of both parties in the energy replenishment network, improve the operational efficiency of both parties, and reduce the cost of repeated investment.
China FAW and Leapmotor are also deepening capital cooperation.
In August 2026, FAW and Leapmotor signed a deepening strategic cooperation agreement, which will carry out in-depth collaboration in the fields of capital cooperation, new energy complete vehicles, intelligent driving, powertrain, power batteries, intelligent chassis, embodied intelligent robots, finance and other fields.
On September 17, the cooperation between the two sides was further deepened: Leapmotor plans to participate in the Series A financing of FAW Qixin Power (Changchun) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qixin Power") under FAW as a strategic investor, to strengthen the in-depth collaboration between the two sides in the key powertrain field, and the two sides will further discuss and promote the strategic collaboration and resource sharing in powertrain products and technologies such as hybrid engines, electric drive systems, and range extenders.
Qixin Power and Leapmotor signed the investment letter of intent
In addition to these cases, there is another ongoing cross-border cooperation case between Chinese and foreign automakers under negotiation, which is affecting the market nerves.
It was previously reported that Stellantis Group may be negotiating long-term industrial cooperation for its luxury brand Maserati with Huawei and JAC Motors.
According to another report from Italian financial media "Milano Finanza", the negotiation has entered the stage of in-depth consultation, and the plan is to apply Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility platform to Maserati models, with the goal of launching the first jointly developed mass-produced car by the end of 2027. The cooperation model may adopt a dual-brand strategy, that is, the new model will be sold under the Maextro brand in the Chinese market, and will bear the Maserati logo in overseas markets.
On September 30, 2026, JAC Motors issued an announcement confirming that the company, Huawei and Stellantis do have communication and negotiation on cooperation intentions, and also stated that no binding formal agreement has been signed at present, and there is great uncertainty in the subsequent promotion of relevant cooperation matters.
Not only the cooperation model between automakers has been innovated, but the form of ecological alliance between automakers and supply chain enterprises is also upgrading.
On September 30, 2026, Huawei and Seres reached a new five-year cooperation in Shenzhen. The two sides will continue to anchor the core positioning of the AITO high-end intelligent automotive brand, jointly form a dedicated team for AITO business, further upgrade the AITO business, better serve AITO users through exclusive operation, and continuously promote the upward development of the AITO new luxury brand.
Huawei and Seres reached a new five-year cooperation in Shenzhen
From a series of recent automotive industry integration cases, from brand merger to joint venture restructuring, from capital alliance to energy replenishment sharing, and then to the upgrading of ecological alliance mode, although the integration wave in the automotive industry is diverse in ways, the trend of contraction, focus, collaboration and efficiency improvement is becoming more and more obvious.
02. Three major automakers are making internal adjustments to collectively promote organizational efficiency improvement
The purpose of large-scale integration in the automotive industry is not only to form alliances externally to reduce "reinventing the wheel", but also to improve the internal organizational efficiency and execution capabilities of enterprises.
In this wave of automotive industry integration, Geely, Chery and Xpeng have adjusted their architectures. Although their "entry points" are different, the direction is the same, which is to recover scattered resources, reduce redundant levels, and improve efficiency.
In the past two months, Geely first announced major personnel adjustments to its management. At the Geely Automobile mid-term performance conference on August 17, 2026, Geely officially announced that Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Holding Group"), former chairman and executive director of Geely Automobile, resigned from the positions of chairman and executive director of Geely Automobile, and was appointed as the lifetime honorary chairman of the company, continuing to serve as the chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
An Conghui, former director of Geely Holding Group and CEO of Geely Holding Group, succeeded Li Shufu as the chairman of Geely Automobile, and the positions of many senior executives were adjusted accordingly.
An Conghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group
An Conghui introduced the background of this adjustment on site. He said that Geely will continue to deepen the "Taizhou Declaration", further deepen the "One Geely" development strategy, continuously optimize business and resource allocation, and reduce unnecessary internal transactions and repeated construction.
While Geely is promoting the top-level architecture adjustment, Chery closely links the group architecture adjustment with the globalization strategy.
On October 7, 2026, according to the announcement of Chery Automobile, in order to fully promote the implementation of the Globalization 3.0 strategy, the main Chery brand is fully incorporated into the global market system, and Zhang Guibing, executive vice president, directly takes charge of the Chery Brand Domestic Business Group.
Chery issued an announcement on the adjustment of senior executives' division of responsibilities
Zhang Guibing is also in charge of core functional departments such as the Global Styling Design Center