Lincoln China Hires Former VW Executive As Next President

Back in 2022, Ford China appointed Sam Wu as its new managing director and chief operating officer, and also named Zhu Meijun as the new president of the Lincoln brand in that country. Meijun previously served as the executive vice president of the Lincoln brand in China, and has worked in various roles for FoMoCo in both that country and Thailand for nearly 30 years to this point. Recently, Meijun announced that she plans to retire this coming May, which means that her role was coming open. However, Ford China has announced that it will now be filled by former Volkswagen executive Jia Mingdi, according to Automotive News.

Mingdi previously served as a senior sales executive at SAIC-Volkswagen – VW Group’s joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp. – and had been with that company since 1998. Mingdi was promoted to president of the same outfit’s sales company in 2010, and in 2018, took over responsibility for Audi sales at SAIC-VW after that joint venture began to build and market vehicles from VW’s luxury brand.

In his new position, Mingdi will report to both Wu and Lincoln Global President Dianne Craig, and will be tasked with turning around sales in China, where Lincoln has struggled a bit as of late after posting strong results as recently as a few years ago. In fact, Lincoln sales in China have declined for two consecutive years now after hitting a record high in 2021, having dropped by 12 percent in 2023 alone.

Currently, Ford produces four Lincoln models in China in conjunction with its joint-venture partner Changan Motor Co. – the Nautilus, Aviator, Corsair, and Zephyr, the latter of which – a sedan – is exclusive to that particular country and was designed specifically to appeal to younger customers there.

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