The latest regulatory filings and annual report from XPeng Inc. reveal that the company's President, Wang Fengying, has been formally registered as a shareholder, receiving an incentive grant of 1.65 million shares.
Wang Fengying joined XPeng as President in January 2023, approximately six months after resigning from her position as General Manager at Great Wall Motor Company Limited. Demonstrating significant goodwill, XPeng's Chairman He Xiaopeng granted this substantial package of 1.65 million shares to Wang just two months after her appointment.
The grant comprises 1.05 million Class A ordinary shares and 600,000 restricted shares, totaling 1.65 million shares, representing approximately 0.1% of XPeng's total share capital.
Based on XPeng's closing share price of HKD 61.30 on the Hong Kong stock exchange, the value of these shares exceeds HKD 101 million, equivalent to approximately RMB 87.87 million.
Born in 1970, Wang Fengying began her career at Great Wall Motor as an intern in 1991 at the age of 21. She rapidly ascended the corporate ladder, playing a pivotal role in establishing the company's sales system. She was appointed as an Executive Director in June 2001.
In November 2002, she became the General Manager of Great Wall Motor, a position she held for two decades. In March 2016, she further assumed the role of Vice Chairman, becoming the second-most influential figure at the company after Chairman Wei Jianjun.
Despite this prominent role and her considerable contributions over 31 years at Great Wall Motor, Wang remained a salaried employee and was never granted any company shares during her tenure.
In 2019, Great Wall Motor proposed granting Wang 3.3 million restricted shares, but the relevant proposal ultimately failed to pass at the shareholders' meeting.
There is also speculation that Wei Jianjun had previously arranged a stock option plan for Wang. However, due to the three-year pandemic period and the company's failure to meet the performance targets set for her, Wang reportedly did not ultimately receive any equity incentive.
Ironically, in June 2022, just before her departure as General Manager, Wang personally purchased 2.475 million shares of Great Wall Motor's Hong Kong-listed stock on the secondary market.
In June 2022, Great Wall Motor's Hong Kong share price ranged between HKD 12.35 and HKD 16.8. As of the latest closing price, it remains at HKD 12.11. This suggests that if Wang has held these shares, she has likely not recouped her investment.
Prior to leaving Great Wall Motor, Wang's annual salary was RMB 5.51 million, the highest she received during her three-decade career there.
Based on available public compensation data, Wang's total remuneration at Great Wall Motor from 2010 to 2021 was approximately RMB 45 million. For the earlier period from 1991 to 2009, her total compensation is estimated at around RMB 25 million.
Calculated this way, Wang's total earnings over 30 years at Great Wall Motor amounted to roughly RMB 70 million. This figure is substantially less than the value of the 1.65 million share equity grant she received just two months after joining XPeng.
The year 2020 marked a turning point in Wang's career at Great Wall Motor. From this point onward, her position within the company became increasingly difficult.
In June 2020, Wei Jianjun established the position of Chairman's Assistant for the first time, beginning to position his daughter, Wei Zihan, in a core company role, paving the way for family succession.
Subsequently, in July 2020, Great Wall Motor introduced a rotating president system. Although Wang retained the title of General Manager, she was effectively moved to a backstage role.
Starting in early 2022, Wang relinquished key positions such as Executive Director and Vice Chairman within a few months, accelerating the handover of authority.
Finally, in July 2022, Wang stepped down from her role as General Manager. However, she did not leave the company immediately but remained to work on "strategic management-related tasks."
Interestingly, in her resignation letter to the Great Wall Motor board, Wang specifically emphasized that there were "no disagreements with the board."
This suggests that, despite any grievances, Wang chose to endure.
For the first 25 years at Great Wall Motor, the working relationship between Wei Jianjun and Wang Fengying followed a pattern of Wei focusing on internal operations and Wang leading external affairs.
Around 2016, with the launch of the WEY brand, which carries Wei Jianjun's surname and strong personal branding, their roles began to shift towards "Wei leading external affairs and Wang focusing on internal operations."
In recent years, the high-profile marketing efforts of Xiaomi's Chairman Lei Jun for its automotive venture have significantly increased Wei Jianjun's anxiety about public visibility and influence.
Wei has also frequently appeared in public over the past two years, aiming to build a personal brand as a "boss-racer" and "fashion icon," hoping to generate more "traffic" for the WEY brand.
A rare public outburst by Wei Jianjun recently further exposed this anxiety.
Last month, during a pre-sales event for the WEY V9X, Wei publicly criticized the WEY marketing team for having "no taste," claiming they had failed the high-end brand he had painstakingly built, staking his personal reputation. This prompted WEY CEO Zhao Yongpo to apologize on the spot and later on social media, stating "the responsibility lies with me."
Public reports suggest Wei Jianjun is adept at managing executives and balancing power dynamics, preventing any single faction or executive from becoming too influential. Executive rotations reportedly occurred almost annually.
Regardless of personnel changes, the most crucial factor for retaining talent is aligning interests through incentives. Following Wang's departure, Wei Jianjun seems to have gained some understanding of this.
After a long period of preparation, Great Wall Motor finally launched an employee stock ownership plan in 2023. This plan included 3,638 participants, including two senior executives.
However, the plan was met with widespread criticism online, primarily because the vesting conditions set by Wei were perceived as excessively stringent.
For employees to realize the benefits of the stock incentives, vesting was not only time-based but also required simultaneous achievement of both individual and company performance targets.
Taking the circulated details of Great Wall Motor's 2023 equity incentive plan as an example, the vesting conditions stipulated: For 2023, vehicle sales must be no less than 1.6 million units and net profit no less than RMB 6 billion. For 2024, sales must be no less than 1.9 million units and net profit no less than RMB 7.2 billion.
However, according to annual reports, Great Wall Motor's vehicle sales for both 2023 and 2024 were just over 1.23 million units, failing to meet the restrictive conditions for unlocking the equity incentives.
The equity incentive plan thus became an empty promise.
In recent years, Great Wall Motor's traditional internal combustion engine vehicle market has been shrinking, while its new energy vehicle segment has failed to gain sufficient traction. The company's transition has lagged significantly, with its new energy vehicle penetration rate far below the industry average and lower than competitors like BYD and Geely.
In 2025, Great Wall Motor's net profit excluding non-recurring items, which better reflects the profitability of its core business, was less than RMB 6.1 billion, a sharp decline of 37.5% year-on-year. For the first quarter of 2026, this figure was only RMB 482 million, plummeting by over 67%.
It appears Wei Jianjun must further intensify his efforts to win over his workforce. Of course, he still holds many cards.
As of 2025, the Wei family's stake in Great Wall Motor is as high as 59%, significantly greater than the He family's 18.8% stake in XPeng. If his management style involved less family-centric control and could introduce more practical equity incentives, attracting and retaining top talent would likely be less challenging.
What is your perspective on the future of Great Wall Motor?
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