Tesla reportedly discharged two senior executives, with plans to intensify the ongoing layoff effort amid waning sales.
CEO Musk sent an email to senior managers
Tesla Chief Elon Musk sent an email to the company’s senior managers to inform them about the latest updates on the ongoing layoff initiative, according to American tech news website The Information.
Two senior executives, including Tesla Supercharger Senior Director Rebecca Tinucci and New Vehicles Program Head Daniel Ho, will formally depart from the electric automaker on Tuesday morning.
In addition, the Tesla boss also aims to lay off all employees under Ms. Tinucci and Mr. Ho’s leadership. The Tesla Supercharging team reportedly consists of about 500 workers, while the number of employees involved in the New Vehicles Program has yet to be disclosed.
Tesla will also dissolve the existing public policy team, which Mr. Rohan Patel supervised. However, he was among the first Tesla executives to leave the company amid the layoff push.
“Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction. While some on exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so.”
CEO Elon Musk wrote in an email to senior managers
Tesla execs quit before the recent dismissals
Two top Tesla executives, including Powertrain and Energy Engineering Senior Vice President Drew Baglino and Public Policy and Business Development Vice President Rohan Patel, recently announced their departure from the company.
Former SVP Drew Baglino outlined in his X post that the decision was difficult, considering the 18 long years he spent in Tesla. However, he did not specify the reason behind his resignation.
Meanwhile, despite his exit, former VP Patel thanked Tesla, CEO Musk, and all the stakeholders. He even noted that Tesla’s Policy and Business Development team is among the best in the industry.
Their decision came amid Tesla’s ongoing layoff initiative in its global workforce, which initially affected 10% of its total 140,473 employees.
Tesla remains under pressure
Tesla’s layoffs were apparently a sign of cost pressures as the company focused on new electric vehicle developments and AI.
Investors expect Tesla to update its current lineup with next-gen models to ensure future growth.
In addition, the Musk-led company has been struggling with waning EV sales and amplifying price war. In effect, its Q1 2024 revenue hit its first-ever decline since 2020.
The surge of China-made electric vehicles also continuously threatens Tesla’s dominance due to their low prices. In fact, BYD managed to beat Tesla’s sales in the fourth quarter of 2023.
