Workers install an exhibit area of Dongfeng Peugeot at the 2006 China International Automobile Science and Technology (S&T) Exhibition in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on May 26, 2006. (Photo : Getty Images)
Dongfeng Motor Corp. has appointed Vice President Ouyang Jie as its new president, filling in the post two months after China’s second largest automaker ousted former president Zhu Fushou for suspected graft, Automotive News China posted on Tuesday.
The state-owned firm previously tapped Li Shaozu, an executive director, as its authorized representative after Zhu's ouster.
Ouyang, 59, has served as vice president at Dongfeng since 2003. He was previously head of Dongfeng's parts supply business division.
In November, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's anti-corruption watchdog, announced Zhu of being "suspected of having seriously violated [the party's] disciplines."
Zhu, 53, was ranked as the second highest executive at Dongfeng, next only to the company chairman, Zhu Yanfeng. He joined the company in 1994 as vice general manager of Dongfeng's automotive wheel subsidiary, and was promoted to general manager in 2008.
The commission has yet to release further details regarding Zhu's case. He is the third senior executive at Dongfeng being investigated of corruption.
The other two officials are Ren Yong, vice president of Dongfeng's joint venture with Japanese auto giant Nissan, and Fan Zhong, former vice secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's unit at Dongfeng.
The investigations are part of an anti-corruption drive spearheaded by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Several senior officials at another state-owned automaker, FAW Group Corp., including its chairman Xu Jianyi, have been sacked or imprisoned.
Based in Xiangyang in central China's Hebei Province, Dongfeng manufactures trucks and passenger vehicles. Aside from Nissan, it also has joint ventures with various international auto manufacturers including PSA Peugeot Citroen, Honda Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Renault SA.
Dongfeng and FAW are the the oldest state-owned automakers in China, and are also the leading manufacturers of trucks in the country.
