Power Plant | Lotus China President Qin Peiji Absent from Technology Launch Event, Reportedly Taken Away for Investigation Assistance

On March 4th, Lotus Technology (formerly “Luttes”) held the FOR ME technology launch event, with China CEO Qin Peiji notably absent. On March 12th, sources from the power plant learned that Qin Peiji was recently taken away for investigation. Two insiders confirmed that after leaving Volvo in August 2023, Geely conducted an internal investigation on him.

Another insider from Lotus China mentioned that Qin Peiji had not appeared at the Shanghai office for some time. The internal explanation was that he was on sick leave, but rumors of him being taken away for investigation had already spread internally. The power plant learned that after Geely reported the case based on internal investigation results, the police decided to file a case after investigation and subsequently took Qin Peiji away to assist with the investigation.

Qin Peiji is a veteran “Geely person,” having been cultivated as an executive within Geely Holding Group for over 15 years. Since 2011, he has served in Greater China for Volvo Cars, holding positions such as Vice President of Sales and Dealer Network for Volvo Cars Greater China and Chief Operating Officer of the Greater China Sales Company. In 2019, he was appointed President of Volvo Cars Greater China Sales. Qin Peiji has been with Volvo for over 12 years.

During his tenure leading Volvo Greater China Sales, Qin Peiji promoted the expansion of Volvo’s sales and service channels and explored Volvo’s direct sales model led by electric vehicles. An insider said that during his 12 years at Volvo, nearly 10 years were directly responsible for departments like public relations, marketing, and procurement, which had ample budgets and were considered “cushy” positions.

His achievements at Volvo were quite notable. From 2016, when he became Sales Director, to 2018, Volvo’s annual sales in China increased from 80,000 to 130,000 units. In 2018, he became COO, and sales continued to steadily grow to 155,000 units. The number of dealerships also saw slight growth, and pilot programs for city-owned direct stores were launched. In 2019, he became President, with nearly 300 dealerships, including 4 direct-operated hyperstores and 36 dealer hyperstores, with the direct store pilot showing initial success.

Until August 18, 2023, Volvo Cars officially announced a personnel change on its website: Volvo Cars Greater China Sales President Qin Peiji resigned, succeeded by Martin Pema, then General Manager of Volvo Japan. The sudden personnel change was simply explained by Volvo as “personal pursuit of external development.”

However, his departure coincided with the Chengdu Auto Show that year, sparking industry speculation. Additionally, Qin Peiji’s public remarks during Volvo events were quite provocative. For example, in April of that year at the Shanghai Auto Show, he made a slogan-like statement: “The new forces will learn in three years; we will learn it, but new forces won’t learn it in ten years,” which sparked controversy within the industry.

Less than 72 hours after leaving Volvo, Geely Auto Group announced that Qin Peiji joined Geely as Vice President of Sales and Chairman of the Group Channel Development Committee, overseeing automotive group channels and development, reporting to then Senior Vice President Lin Jie.

Qin Peiji’s career at Geely had a rollercoaster trajectory. He helped promote the dealer network for the Galaxy brand. In June 2024, less than a year after returning to Geely, he was transferred to Polestar Technology as China COO, replacing Chen Siying. At that time, Polestar was also pushing a direct sales system in China but was struggling significantly.

On March 12, 2025, Polestar Technology’s former COO Qin Peiji joined Lotus Auto as China President, reporting to Lotus Group CEO Feng Qinfeng. Lotus Group’s predecessor, Lotus Cars, was acquired by Geely in 2017, with Geely holding 51%. In 2020, Lotus Technology was established on this basis, with Geely holding 60%.

At the March 4th Lotus FOR ME technology launch, former Lotus China President Mao Jingbo and Lotus Group CEO Feng Qinfeng, who were replaced by Qin Peiji, appeared at the event, but Qin Peiji was absent. As of press time, Geely has not responded to inquiries regarding Qin Peiji’s situation.