In difficult market, Chinese automaker cuts jobs, switchs to green cars

Chinese automaker Qoros, established 10 years ago, has cut jobs and is moving its focus to faster-growth electric vehicles in reaction to increased amount of rivals in the biggest car market.

In formerly unreported cuts, Qoros, which is backed by almost $1 billion each from Chery Auto and Kenon Holdings, has shed over a fifth of its workforce – down to 1,910 from 2,450 two years earlier, a spokesperson stated.

Four previous Qoros staff members said the cuts included the current loss of around 80 engineering specialists and employees, mainly more costly non-Chinese hires and senior staff.

Qoros has won quality kudos for its petrol vehicles, including its Qoros 5 sport-utility vehicle introduced in 2016, however it now highlights some of the threats that automobile start-ups deal with as competitors magnifies and a slowing Chinese economy weighs on vehicle sales.

“You have the tendency to consume your very own Kool-Aid and believe whatever forecast you had. Then you grow and grow and grow, and before you understand it, you have a monster,” Dan Cohen, vice chairman, stated. “I see this happening now in some other (start-up) companies.

There’s harder competition all around.

Established Chinese car manufacturers such as Geely Auto Holdings and Great Wall Motor are catching up with worldwide competitors in quality; those worldwide car manufacturers are increasingly rivaling with less expensive models; and lots of local electric automobile start-ups crowd a ‘new energy’ market strongly promoted by the government.

Shanghai-based Qoros has suffered loss of around 9.5 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) since it was established, and has missed out on sales targets by some margin.