Chery Jaguar Land Rover Board of Directors has appointed Murray Dietsch as President and Xuefeng Chen as Deputy President of the company. Handover into these roles will start from later this year.
In the past seven years, Murray has held several senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover and his current role is Vehicle Line Director. During this time, he has led the launch of both the award‑winning Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport.
Phil Hodgkinson, Jaguar Land Rover's Director, Global Business Expansion, commented, "Murray has been instrumental in growth of the Jaguar Land Rover business in recent years and has worked closely with the Chery Jaguar Land Rover team in his current role. He brings a wealth of experience with him to China and we look forward to welcoming him to the team."
Xuefeng Chen is currently Executive Vice President Manufacturing at Chery Jaguar Land Rover. He has significant experience of working in joint ventures and brings great insight into all areas of the business including corporate strategy, product planning and launch as well as manufacturing operations.
Anning Chen, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Chery Automotive, commented, "Xuefeng Chen has been part of the Executive Operating Committee. He is among the high potential leaders of the new generation of automotive talents in China, having extensive operational experiences in the joint ventures of Ford, Mazda, and now Jaguar Land Rover. I am confident that, along with, Murray, he will bring new energy in further achieving the leading capability for this joint venture in China."
Murray replaces Chris Bryant whose term of office is complete after three years. Chris has successfully led the Chery Jaguar Land Rover team from the creation of the joint venture in 2012 through to the production of both the Range Rover Evoque and the Land Rover Discovery Sport at the world‑class Changshu manufacturing facility. Chris has worked for Jaguar Land Rover for 25 years and will return to the UK to take up a senior position within the company.
Xuefeng replaces Guohua Zhu who will also complete his term of office later this year and will move to the role of Vice President of Business Alliance, Chery Automotive. Alongside Chris Bryant, Guohua has delivered a state‑of‑the‑art manufacturing plant which is now delivering cars to customers across China.
"We would like to thank Chris and Guohua for the significant contribution they have made in creating our first joint venture and world‑class manufacturing plant. We have the highest quality processes, people and products, which is a direct result of both their unwavering passion for excellence enabling us to compete in the largest automotive market in the long‑term." commented the Chery Jaguar Land Rover Board of Directors.
Anning Chen, Chairman of the Board and Phil Hodgkinson, Board member, Chery Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Chris has played a pivotal role in the launch of Jaguar Land Rover's first overseas factory in the world's largest car market. He has helped to build strong foundations on which we can build a sustainable future business in China."
"Guohua has demonstrated strong leadership since the start of our partnership between the two companies. Along with Chris, he built a cross‑cultural team that possess the best leadership skills and top international experience in the automotive businesses. We would like to thank Chris and Guohua for their solid commitment over the last three years."
Biwen Han, currently Production Office Director, Chery Automotive, will be appointed Executive Vice President, Manufacturing, Chery Jaguar Land Rover replacing Xuefeng Chen.
With a 10.9 billion RMB investment, Jaguar Land Rover and Chery's joint venture represents a long‑term strategic commitment to China. The world‑class factory opened in October 2014 and now produces four new derivatives of the Range Rover Evoque designed for Chinese customers only. The locally manufactured Discovery Sport will go on sale later in 2015.
Chery Jaguar Land Rover will keep delivering world‑class products and service with its 'Delivering Excellence' vision, dedicated to inspiring excellence in Chinese premium automotive market under the new leadership.