(Yicai) April 15 -- Xia Yiping, the chief executive officer of Jiyue Auto, a premium smart car brand set up by Baidu and carmaker Geely Holding Group, has taken personal control of marketing to boost sales in a shakeout of the department’s team, an insider said.

Andy Gao, who used to work for US carmaker Tesla, has replaced the chief of Jiyue’s sales department, the source also added.

Established as Jidu in Shanghai in January 2021, the electric vehicle brand was renamed Jiyue last August and has been overhauling its marketing team since late last month, when a number of managers stepped down.

Sales have been bad because of poor marketing, Xia said at a press conference in March, adding that it would take one or two months to transform the team. He pointed out that it was a problem when a potential buyer walks into a Jiyue showroom and wonders: “What brand is this?”

Xia has said that the brand is one of the three domestic leaders in smart driving, along with Huawei Technologies and Xpeng.

Its first model, the Jiyue 01, debuted in October and sold only about 2,300 units in six months. Fewer than 700 of the sport utility vehicle were sold in the first quarter of this year.

 Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine