(Yicai Global) May 15 -- The general sales manager of Voyah Automobile Technology, a Chinese luxury electric auto brand owned by major Dongfeng Motor Group, has left the company.

Yu Fei resigned after only having joined Wuhan-based Voyah last July, Yicai Global learned from sources at Dongfeng Motor. Shao Mingfeng, assistant to the general manager of Voyah, will temporarily replace him.

Yu’s departure, which follows last month’s exit of Liu Zhanshu, Voyah’s deputy general sales manager, means the company’s second-generation marketing management team, which was set up last July, has collapsed. The firm’s first generation team was unveiled in July 2020.

Almost all of Voyah’s first-generation managers were senior executives of Dongfeng Motor, and the entrepreneurial atmosphere was not strong, an insider at the parent company told Yicai Global. Moreover, the firm did not have the same flexibility and autonomy in the decision-making process as other startups, the person added.

In July 2022, Voyah began the biggest personnel shakeup since its establishment in 2018, appointing new senior executives. Yu earlier worked for Great Wall Ora’s marketing team, and Liu for Geely Holding Groups’ electric vehicle unit Zeekr.

Around the same time, Voyah lowered its annual sales target to 31,000 vehicles from 46,000. The form sold 19,400 units in 2022, up 186 percent from a year earlier, but missing its target.

Voyah set this year’s sales goal at 70,000. Its main model, the Voyah Zhuiguang, has a starting price of more than CNY320,000 (USD45,985). Its competitor SAIC Feifan F7 is priced from CNY230,000.

In the first three months of the year, Voyah sold 5,682 cars, up 54 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association. Based on the first-quarter results and this year’s product plan, it is very unlikely Voyah will hit its target.

Editor: Futura Costaglione