Background
Yin Tongyao was born in 1962 Anhui, China, China.
同耀 尹
Yin Tongyao was born in 1962 Anhui, China, China.
Yin finished his high school education there in 1980. He received a college degree in automobile engineering from Hefei University of Technology in 1984.
Yin started his career as a technician with First Automobile Works (FAW), a car plant that manufactured its self-designed ‘Hongqi’ model. He rose to a senior position in the assembly and logistics division of the FAW-Volkswagen venture before joining Chery as a deputy general manager in late 1996. Yin became the president of the company in 2004.
Driven by the belief that Chinese automobile manufacturers needed to develop their own car brands, it nonetheless took courage for Yin to leave FAW-Volkswagen. At the time, the ‘Hongqi’ plant could only produce 300 units per day while the FAW-Volkswagen plant produced 4000 units. Initially, the formation of Chery was not well received by the local government of Wuhu as it endorsed a ‘Three Big, Three Small’ automakers strategy. Nonetheless, Chery was created from a combination of five stateowned enterprises based in Anhui with the aim of propping up the economy of Wuhu. Along with the other founding pioneers of Chery, Yin had to face challenges such as the lack of capital, know-how, vendor support, customer base, and competent personnel in the early years of operation.
There were also delays in the installation of secondhand production machines that the company purchased from Ford Europe for its first factory. While Chery’s management was irresolute on the matter, in 1998 Yin decided to install the machines using Chery’s own personnel. This led to cost and time savings on the installation process, and Chery’s first automobile rolled off the assembly line in 1999, although the company was unable to obtain a license to sell its cars in China until 2001, when Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) bought a 20 percent stake in the company, allowing it to use SAIC’s national retail sales license. Chery bought back the 20 percent stake from SAIC in late 2004.
Yin categorizes his search for talent into three major phases. Initially, he persuaded some former classmates, former colleagues, and hometown friends to join Chery while the company was still in the early stages of organizational development. Strangers were unwilling to commit to Chery’s uncertain future. When Chery’s operations became more established, Yin began to recruit personnel with R&D skills from other major local automakers to develop the company’s R&D capabilities. (A joint-venture entity, comprising local and foreign firms, does not normally need R&D personnel.) The third phase of recruiting relates to Chery’s ambitions to go global. Yin looked for talent from major foreign firms to oversee Chery’s key functional areas. Chery endorses continuous professional education and has an academic collaboration program with Hefei University of Technology.
Yin attempts to distinguish Chery as China’s self-developed auto brand at home and abroad. The company founded an R&D organization in 2003, and began working with foreign experts to improve its technology and quality. In 2005, it formed a strategic partnership with a US-based firm, Visionary Vehicles. It also started manufacturing China’s first high-performance engines in cooperation with AVL List of Austria. Nevertheless, Yin’s strategic actions have encountered challenges. In 2005 General Motors Daewoo auto firm sued Chery for allegedly copying one of its vehicles.
Yin stated in late 2005, ‘. . . we hope to export Chery to the US . . . the car can drive on the Manhattan street . . .’ However, Chery Auto cancelled plans to export vehicles to the USA in 2006 as its cars had yet to achieve a certain standard. To improve its competitive edge, in 2007 Chery signed a deal with the Chrysler Group to manufacture small cars for export to the USA and other markets. In the same year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Fiat to set up a 50-50 joint venture in China. Chery’s first decade of corporate performance could probably be characterized as impressive, albeit sometimes controversial. Under Yin’s leadership, the success of the independent automaker perhaps can be better measured in the future. For now, the firm continues to make major corporate changes and to engage with considerable external interfaces.