Tom Zhu to Take Charge of Tesla's US Factories & Operations in North America & Europe

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Tesla's Global vice president and general manager for the Greater China region Tom Zhu has been promoted to take charge of Tesla's US assembly factories and sales operations in North America and Europe, according to rumors. The news comes amid information that he is in the US and is no longer the legal representative of Tesla in China.

According to the information, the previous head of Tesla in China will become the second after the head of the company, Elon Musk, in the future, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing Reuters. Now Tom Zhu, in addition to his previous role, is the top manager of Tesla's US plants, which include Giga Texas and the Fremont factory, as well as the head of sales operations for North America and Europe. Under Musk's leadership, he now oversees the company's operations around the world, according to reports.

The news comes amid information that emerged in late December that Zhu, Tesla Global vice president and general manager for the Greater China region, is no longer the legal representative of Tesla Shanghai Co Ltd. Now this position is occupied by Wang Hao. The change went into effect on Dec. 22. Zhu remains chairman of the company. Wang is the CEO of Tesla China.

Zhu made a huge contribution to the development of the company in China, and thanks to him, the production capacity of Giga Shanghai has increased so rapidly. On Dec. 8, Ping West, citing unnamed sources, reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had chosen Zhu as the candidate to replace him as the company's CEO. While CEO Zhu's role will be global, the responsibilities are likely to be limited to Tesla's automotive business and will not include autonomous driving and robotics programs, the report said, citing another source.

Tesla board member James Murdoch said in November that the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk, without naming him. Combined with new information, this may indicate that Zhu may have been the candidate. However, it is worth bearing in mind that the company has not made official statements, and any information in this regard should be considered with a grain of salt.

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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