Tesla has promoted the head of its Chinese operations, Tom Zhu, to manage all of the electric vehicle (EV) maker’s factories in the U.S., along with sales operations in both North America and Europe — reports Reuters.
According to the publication, the executive change was detailed in an internal posting of reporting lines. As outlined in the document, Zhu will retain his responsibilities as vice president for Greater China and Tesla’s senior-most executive for sales in the rest of the Asian market, while taking on new ones.
Zhu’s promotion makes him Tesla’s highest-ranking executive after CEO Elon Musk. The news comes a week after the executive vacated his position as the legal representative for Tesla’s operating entity in China, indicating he was moving on to a more global role at the company.
Zhu has been with Tesla since 2014. With him at its helm, Tesla’s Chinese Gigafactory in Shanghai overcame production slowdowns caused by COVID-19 and became the company’s highest-yield plant, supplying not only the Chinese market but also exporting vehicles to the rest of Asia and beyond.
Last month, Tesla brought Zhu and his team over to the U.S. to help boost production at the company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. With him at the plant, Giga Texas hit a weekly production milestone of 3,000 Model Y units.
Per Tesla’s internal notice, the following managers will now report to Zhu:
Country managers in China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand will continue to report to Zhu. The executive takes the reins of Giga Texas just as the plant prepares to begin mass production of Tesla’s Cybertruck later this year.
Tesla on Monday reported record fourth-quarter deliveries of 405,278 vehicles, along with an all-time high of 1,313,851 million vehicles delivered in 2022 as a whole.
