Tesla CEO Elon Musk began to supervise sales in Europe and the United States, leaving senior vice president Tom Zhu responsible for Asia after the departure of Omead Affshar, according to sources familiar with the subject.
AFSHAR was responsible for sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe, but Musk’s old right arm left the electric vehicle manufacturer last month, being the latest senior executive to come out at a difficult time for Tesla, which faces sales in most of its main markets.
With the departure of AFSHAR, Musk and Zhu divided their responsibilities, and Zhu, based on China, will be at the head of Tesla’s global manufacturing operations, the sources said, who preferred not to identify themselves because they were private information.
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Tesla representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk’s focus in Europe is significant, considering that the continent is currently the weaker market of the electric vehicle manufacturer. The billionaire said this in May during an interview with Bloomberg News at the Qatar Economic Forum. Only 512 new Teslas were registered in the United Kingdom in April, a 62% drop compared to the previous year, while Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden had even over year by year.
In May, Tesla’s total sales in Europe fell for the fifth consecutive month, almost 30%, while the largest market of electric vehicles in the region grew approximately in the same proportion.
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Although Musk promised to return his focus to Tesla after a period in Washington, his political affiliations, and involvement with Trump’s cost cutting efforts harmed the brand’s image in Europe. Tesla’s aged line of vehicles and the lack of hybrid models also made it less competitive against emerging Chinese automakers, such as Byd Co.
With Zhu now responsible for global manufacturing, his direct subordinates include Horushi Sagar, which supervises the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, and Jason Shawhan, responsible for the Gigafactory Texas, said sources familiar with new reporting lines. Troy Jones remains vice president of sales in North America and now responds directly to Musk, they added, preferring not to speak publicly.
It is unclear whether this management structure is definitive or if reporting lines can still change.
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Zhu joined Tesla in April 2014 and quickly risen, leading the construction and start of operations of the company’s first factory abroad in Shanghai as vice president of Greater China. In April 2023, he was promoted to senior vice president of cars, expanding his responsibility for production, sales, deliveries and global services, and moved to the US.
Last year, Zhu was relocated to China on a more focused role in the region after Tesla faced technological and regulatory obstacles to the launch of its advanced driver assistance features.
Since then, Chinese authorities have released preliminary guidelines on the transmission of automotive data to the outside, measured as potentially facilitating to the expansion of advanced Tesla driver assistance resources in the country.
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Tesla should disclose its second quarter delivery numbers this week. Electric vehicle deliveries are expected to fall 19% over the previous year to 360,000 units, wrote JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Ryan Brinkman. Tesla’s first trimester deliveries, in turn, reached the lowest level by almost three years.
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