For Chinese tech giant Huawei, much of the success of its cell phone business is due to one man - Richard Yu - who has now become CEO of the company's smart car division, signaling the importance Huawei places on that segment.

Huawei announced a number of personnel changes on Tuesday, with Yu remaining CEO of the consumer BG, but he was given the new title of CEO of the company's smart car solutions BU, and Wang Jun as president of the same BU.

As the head of Huawei's consumer business, Yu has successfully turned Huawei's cell phone business from a nobody to the No. 2 global smartphone ranking in the past few years.

After Huawei shifted its business focus from cell phones to automobiles, Yu is the single most important spokesperson.

Last July, Yu appeared at BYD's flagship model launch to announce Huawei's HarmonyOS-based HiCar system.

On April 20 this year, Yu announced at Huawei's global flagship store on Nanjing Road in Shanghai that Huawei would start selling cars, with the first model being the Seres SF5, which would make its way to Huawei's stores and flagship stores.

After being repeatedly sanctioned by the United States, Huawei's cell phone business has been affected, and selling cars can make up for the decline in profits caused by the impact on sales of the cell phone business, Yu said at the time.

Huawei has more than 5,000 high-end experience stores, far more than BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, and the new car makers, Yu said.

"This is our huge advantage, covering every important city in China," he said.

From producing and manufacturing components for smart cars to building the Huawei Inside business model, to Huawei using its own channels to sell cars, Huawei is getting deeper and deeper into the automotive sector.

The last restructuring of Huawei's automotive BU was at the end of last year. On Nov. 25, 2020, Huawei adjusted the business management of the Intelligent Vehicle Solutions BU from the ICT Business Management Committee to the Consumer Business Management Committee and appointed Wang Tao as a member of the Consumer Business Management Committee.

Huawei officially starts selling cars in flagship stores, says it can make up for lost profits in phone business