BYD hires former GM China president as adviser

BYD Co., China’s largest electrified vehicle maker, has recruited Kevin Wale, the former head of General Motors’ China operations, as a senior adviser to company chairman Wang Chuanfu.

The move comes as BYD faces a slumping market for EVs as Beijing dials back on consumer incentives.

“Wale will counsel Wang on developing BYD’s business, operations and marketing strategy, as well as brand construction and sales and service system improvement,” BYD said in a statement on Monday.

Before his retirement in 2012, Wale worked for GM for 32 years, including a stint as president and managing director of GM China from 2005 to 2012.

In 2019, BYD’s vehicle deliveries dropped 11 percent to 461,399. The number includes 229,506 EVs and plug-in hybrids as well as 231,893 gasoline light vehicles.

BYD, based in the south China city of Shenzhen, is partly owned by U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett.

The private Chinese company produces battery electric vehicles and gasoline cars in China. It also assembles electric buses in the United States, France, Hungary and Brazil.