Former SAIC-GM chief to run Chinese EV startup

Ding Lei, former president of SAIC-GM Motor Corp., has joined Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp. to lead the company's effort to develop electric vehicles.Leshi, a Beijing maker of Web-enabled TVs, unveiled plans this year to develop a sporty EV that can compete on the global market.Ding has been named CEO of the Asia region for the company's newly established EV unit, Leshi founder Jia Yueding wrote in his blog.Ding joined SAIC-GM, GM's passenger vehicle joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., in 1995. He worked his way up to become the joint venture's president in 2005.In 2011, he was recruited away from the joint venture by the Shanghai municipal government. In 2013, he was appointed vice chief of Shanghai's Pudong New District.Ding is not the only automotive veteran that Leshi has hired to help develop an EV. The company reportedly has recruited Infiniti's former China sales chief, Allen Lu, and FAW-Volkswagen's former production director, Frank Sterzer.