In 6th Shake-up, Li Auto CEO Takes Direct HR Reigns

After the reshuffle, five departments now report directly to him: the Brand, Strategy, Product, Product Line, and Human Resources Departments.

On November 11, according to Chinese media reports, Li Auto issued an internal announcement declaring multiple organizational and personnel adjustments. The adjustments include:

• The first-level organizations “Organization Department” and “Human Resources” under the Organization and Finance Group will be consolidated into “Human Resources” and integrated into the Product and Strategy Group;
• The Organization and Finance Group will be renamed as the CFO Function Group;
• Yang Haishan is appointed as Head of Human Resources, reporting directly to Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto.

It should be added that Yang Haishan is a veteran employee of Li Auto, having served as the company’s After-sales Director since October 2016, fully responsible for building Li Auto’s after-sales systems, among other duties. He previously worked at Applied Materials China and BMW Brilliance.

Previously, the Head of Human Resources reported to Li Tie, CFO of Li Auto. After the adjustment, the role now reports directly to Li Xiang, which means Li Xiang will personally manage the company’s organizational structure and personnel changes.

Following this adjustment, the departments reporting directly to Li Xiang have increased to five, including Brand, Strategy, Product, Product Line, and the newly established Human Resources Department.

It is understood that at the same time the organizational integration announcement was released, Yuan Chunfeng, the former head of Li Auto’s Human Resources department, was in the process of leaving the company, with the announcement date being his last day. Moreover, just one day before Yuan’s departure, Li Wenzhi, the former head of the CFO Office, had also left Li Auto.

According to public information, Li Wenzhi was one of the key executives Li Auto recruited from Huawei. In February 2023, Li Auto brought in Li Wenzhi, former Global HRBP Management Department Head at Huawei, to serve as Head of the CFO Office, reporting to CFO Li Tie. After joining, Li Wenzhi upgraded the company’s original OKR management system to the PBC performance model.

However, starting last year, this model caused adverse reactions within Li Auto. The sales team engaged in cutthroat competition to meet targets, resulting in chaos such as cross-regional order-snatching and internal commission rebates. In July this year, Li Auto announced it would abandon Huawei’s PBC system and revert to OKR, beginning a process of “de-Huaweification.”

This year, Li Auto has been undergoing frequent organizational restructuring. This marks the sixth major adjustment within the year. Since the major overhaul of the sales system in March, Li Auto has optimized its organizational structure almost every few months.

Li Xiang’s direct management of the Human Resources Department this time also signals a shift in Li Auto’s organizational and management philosophy.