According to an internal posting of reporting lines reviewed by Reuters, Tesla Inc's China chief Tom Zhu has been promoted to take charge of the electric carmaker's U.S. assembly plants as well as sales operations in North America and Europe.
The Tesla posting showed that Zhu's title of vice president for Greater China had not changed and that he also retained his responsibilities as Tesla's most senior executive for sales in the rest of Asia as of Tuesday.
With the move, Zhu becomes Tesla's highest-profile executive after Elon Musk, with responsibility for deliveries in all of the company's major markets and all of its production outside of the still-growing Tesla plant in Germany.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Reuters examined an organizational chart posted internally by Tesla and confirmed the change with two people who saw it. They asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.
Tesla brought in Zhu and a team of his reports late last year to troubleshoot production issues in the United States, raising expectations among his colleagues that he was being groomed for a bigger role.
Zhu's appointment to a global role comes at a time when Musk has been distracted by his acquisition of Twitter and Tesla analysts and investors have urged action that would deepen the senior executive bench and allow him to focus on Tesla.
Under Zhu, Tesla's Shanghai plant rebounded strongly from COVID lockdowns in China.
Tesla said on Monday that it had delivered 405,278 vehicles in the fourth quarter, short of Wall Street estimates, according to data compiled by Refinitiv.
The company had delivered 308,600 vehicles in the same period a year earlier.
The Tesla managers reporting to Zhu include Jason Shawhan, director of manufacturing at the Gigafactory in Texas; Hrushikesh Sagar, senior director of manufacturing at Tesla's Fremont factory; Joe Ward, vice president in charge of Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Troy Jones, vice president of North America sales and service, according to the Tesla notice on reporting lines reviewed by Reuters.
Tesla country managers in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand continued to report to Zhu, the notice showed.
Zhu, who was born in China but now resides in New Zealand, began working for Tesla in 2014. Previously, he worked as a project manager for a company founded by his MBA classmates at Duke University, advising Chinese contractors on infrastructure projects in Africa.
Zhu was among the first batch of employees sleeping in the factory during Shanghai's two-month COVID lockdown, according to people who work with him.
Zhu, a no-nonsense manager with a buzz cut, wears Tesla-branded fleece jackets and lives in a government-subsidized apartment a 10-minute drive from the Shanghai Gigafactory. It was unclear whether he would relocate following his promotion.
He takes charge of Tesla's main production hubs at a time when the company is readying the launch of Cybertruck and a revamped version of its Model 3 sedan.
When Tesla posted a picture on Twitter last month to celebrate its Austin, Texas, plant hitting a production milestone for its Model Y, Zhu was among hundreds of workers smiling on the factory floor.
In a change made by the company last month, Allan Wang, who was promoted to vice president in charge of sales in China in July, was listed as the operation's legal representative in registration papers filed with Chinese regulators.
Tesla board member James Murdoch stated in November that the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk but refused to name the individual. Murdoch did not respond to an interview request.
Elecktrek previously reported that Zhu would be in charge of US sales, delivery, and service.
Source: Reuters