Only a few days after showing off how completely real their Bioweapon Defense mode actually is, Tesla had some less exciting news today. It’s been reported that two more Tesla executives are leaving the company, and the timing is pretty bad. The two departing vice presidents are in charge of production and manufacturing, both pretty important areas for a company looking to release its first mass-production vehicle, the Tesla Model 3.
Greg Reichow, Tesla’s vice president of production, and Josh Ensign, vice president of manufacturing will be leaving the company. Tesla has confirmed the departures, though they’ve said that Reichow will stay on board until his replacement has been placed.
Bloomberg spoke with the elusive “people familiar with the matter” and heard that the shakeup was directly linked to some of the issues seen during the delays and eventual launch of the Model X SUV. Tesla has shot down those rumors, saying that in the case of Mr. Reichow, he’s simply taking a well-deserved break after more than five years with the company:
After being at Tesla for over five years and leading its production team for the past three years, Greg Reichow has announced his intention to take a leave of absence from Tesla so that he can have a well-earned break.
In an e-mail to Bloomberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said:
Greg and the team deserve a lot of credit for building an all-new manufacturing organization from the ground up and for making Model S and Model X a reality. We’re confident that with the strength of the team, high-quality manufacturing at Tesla will continue.
While Musk doesn’t say anything specifically about Mr. Reichow returning after a leave of absence, the fact that he’s sticking around until his replacement can be named doesn’t exactly clear up any part of the situation.
Tesla will want to find a replacement quickly though, they’re going to need someone to oversee production on the wildly popular Model 3. After getting deposits for over 400,000 vehicles following the public unveiling of the vehicle in March, Tesla will have a lot of angry customers if too many promised dates are missed.
[button link=”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-04/two-tesla-production-chiefs-to-leave-ahead-of-biggest-challenge-yet” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Bloomberg[/button]
