Beijing (ZXZC)- The renowned automotive supplier, Webasto, announced two major personnel changes on December 15th. The current President China of Webasto, Jan Henning Mehlfeldt is taking on as President Europe, and Zhang Lihua will be the acting president. 

Photo credit: Webasto

Zhang Lihua joined Webasto China in 2002, serving as project manager, sales manager, customer general manager, vice president of business expansion and sales, and vice president of the customer group successively. Since October 2019, Zhang was promoted to the executive vice president position in Webasto China, responsible for the company’s strategic development layout, public affairs, and customer group businesses in the country.

With the support and authorization from the board, Zhang Lihua will reinforce Webatso’s development strength and leading position in the Chinese market, and further promote the group’s new energy business development in the country.

Photo credit: Webasto

Currently, China has become a more and more valued market to the group. In 2020, Webasto’s China sales volume accounted for nearly 40% of the group’s global revenue. Therefore, Webasto is planning to further its investment in the country and enhance its R&D and manufacturing capability in China.

Specifically, besides the group’s mainstay sunroof business, Webasto is also branching out in the electric and intellectual fields. In 2019, the group’s €50 million new factory in Wuhan started the production of sunroofs as well as high-voltage heaters and charging solution products. In January 2020, Webasto’s power cell center in Jiaxing completed construction. The center is designed to perform R&D, testing, power battery pack manufacturing tasks for the Chinese market. The center’s battery pack project is being developed and is expected to start mass production in 2022.