(Yicai) Jan. 3 -- Hozon Auto said Chief Executive Zhang Yong will personally take charge of marketing at the Chinese electric carmaker following a 16 percent slump in sales last year.

Zhang, a co-founder of the Jiaxing-based startup, will serve as president of the company’s marketing unit and Vice President Zhou Jiang will take the position of managing VP for marketing, according to a statement dated Dec. 29.

The marketing unit’s former Managing VP Jiang Feng and former Executive VP Li Changhe have been removed from their positions, Hozon Auto said. 

The company sold 127,496 cars last year, a 16.2 percent drop from 2022, pushing it down to fifth place among domestic EV startups, behind Li Auto, Nio, Leapmotor, and Xpeng Motors. Hozon had ranked first in 2022, and was the only firm in last year’s top five to see sales decline. 

Making a poor job of shifting to new models from old models and pricing new products too highly were behind the weak sales, along with outdated promotional methods and weak management in the marketing department, Zhang said in an open letter today.

To boost sales, Hozon will adjust and upgrade its existing product lines this year and revamp its marketing system while also accelerating its expansion into overseas markets, Zhang said. 

Hozon aims to roll out seven to eight new models in the next three years so as to realize a goal of selling one million cars in 2026, with 35 percent of sales from overseas, Zhang said last October. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting