Elon Musk has terminated two senior executives at Tesla and is set to lay off hundreds more employees, reportedly frustrated by declining sales and the sluggish pace of job cuts. According to The Information, Musk conveyed this decision via email to senior managers.
Rebecca Tinucci, the senior director of Tesla’s Supercharger business, and Daniel Ho, who headed the new vehicles program, will depart on Tuesday morning, as per the report.
Additionally, Musk intends to let go of all employees under Tinucci and Ho, which includes approximately 500 workers in the Supercharger group. The number of employees under Ho’s purview was not specified.
The report also indicates that Tesla’s public policy team, led by former executive Rohan Patel, will be disbanded.
Musk’s email emphasized the necessity for stringent headcount and cost reduction measures. While some members of the executive staff are reportedly taking these actions seriously, others are not, Musk noted.
Tesla, with a global workforce of 140,473 employees as of the end of 2023, has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment.
Ho, who joined Tesla in 2013, previously served as a program manager for the development of Model S, Model 3, and Model Y before assuming responsibility for all new vehicles. Tinucci, on the other hand, joined Tesla in 2018 as a senior product manager, based on their LinkedIn profiles.
Earlier this month, two other senior leaders, Patel and battery development chief Drew Baglino, announced their departures. This coincided with Tesla’s decision to lay off over 10% of its workforce.
The company is currently facing challenges such as declining sales and heightened competition, resulting in its quarterly revenue dropping for the first time since 2020, as per the recent company report.
Despite these challenges, Musk made strides in rolling out Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance package in China, amidst the ongoing EV price war in the region. This development followed Musk’s unexpected visit to Beijing on Sunday.
The Beijing trip occurred shortly after he canceled a planned visit to India due to significant Tesla commitments, where the company has been endeavoring to commence operations for some time.
