Tesla Inc’s China chief Tom Zhu has been promoted to take direct oversight of the electric car maker’s U.S. assembly plants as well as sales operations in North America and Europe, according to an internal sources . Tesla’s disclosure showed that Zhu’s title of vice president of Greater China remained unchanged and that he also retained his responsibility as Tesla’s top executive for sales in the rest of Asia as of Tuesday.
The move makes Zhu the highest-ranking Tesla executive since CEO Elon Musk, with direct oversight of deliveries in all of its major markets and operations at its key manufacturing centers. Zhu would keep Tesla’s vehicle design and development both areas where Musk has been heavily involved separate, while creating an apparent proxy for Musk for the shorter-term challenges of managing global sales and production.
Zhu and his reporting team were brought in by Tesla late last year to address manufacturing issues in the United States, prompting expectations among his colleagues at the time that he was being groomed for a bigger role. Zhu’s appointment to the global role comes as Musk has been distracted by the Twitter acquisition and Tesla analysts and investors have been pushing for a move that would deepen the executive bench and allow him to focus on Tesla.
Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014. Before that, he was a project manager at a company founded by his MBA classmates at Duke University, advising Chinese contractors working on infrastructure projects in Africa. During Shanghai’s two-month COVID lockdown, Zhu was among the first batch of workers to sleep in the factory and try to keep it running, people who work with him said.
Zhu, an easy-going executive with a fashionable cut, prefers Tesla fleece jackets, and lived in a government-subsidized apartment a 10-minute drive from Shanghai’s Gigafactory. It was not immediately clear whether he will move after his promotion. He heads Tesla’s major production centers as the company prepares to launch the Cybertruck and improved versions of its Model 3 sedan. Tesla has also said it is developing a cheaper electric vehicle, but has not provided details on that plan.
When Tesla posted a picture on Twitter last month to celebrate the Austin, Texas factory reaching a milestone in production of its Model Y, Zhu was among hundreds of workers smiling at the factory. Tesla board member James Murdoch said in November that the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk, without naming the person. Murdoch did not respond to a request for comment. Elecktrek previously announced that Zhu will assume responsibility for US sales, delivery and service.
