General manager of sales quits Chongqing Lifan

Chongqing Lifan Group, China's largest motorcycle maker who is diversifying into car production, has released its Lifan 620 sedan at the Chengdu auto show this week. Just when the Lifan 620 compact model went on sale (priced at 69,800-79,800 yuan), Hu Qi, a founder of Lifan, had quit quietly his post as general manager of Lifan Sales Company, said sohu.com today.

Hu Qi has played an important role in the founding and development of Lifan Motor. He had worked in Lifan as finance director, securities minister, among others, before setting up the Lifan sales company in 2004. He was responsible for building the Lifan plant in Vietnam in 2002 and put the facility into good operation.

In March 2005, when the first Lifan car model Lifan 520 was born, Hu Qi, aged 30 then, was appointed as the first general manager of sales in Lifan and was named "China's youngest CEO of auto sales in China" by the industry.

When asked about the reasons for Hu's quitting the job, sources in Lifan said that after working in that position for nearly four years, he feels great pressure, is very tired and needs a break before Lifan Group transfers him to another job.

In recent years, many Chinese car-makers have changed the general managers of their sales companies, and in 2008 when China's auto market is on a slippery slope, the sales CEO of all auto brands have been undergoing a tough time.