Tesla’s China President Resigns After Less Than 9 Months on the Helm
Less than a year after she left Apple to join Tesla China last December and less than nine months after becoming its Chairman, Veronica Wu has resigned, according to Beijing-based official Richard Lan.
Her replacement will be Tom Zhu, who is currently leading Tesla’s charging network development in the country. This change comes seven months after the Elon Must-owned company started delivering the Model S all-electric luxury saloon in the world’s largest automotive market.
“Tesla counts on China as one of their main drivers of growth after California, and it might have been more difficult that they thought”, Shangai-based JSC Automotive Consulting managing director Jochen Siebert told Bloomberg. “They need to succeed in China as it’s one of the markets that’s open to electric vehicles.”
Tesla plans to start building the Model S locally in the next three to four years. The company currently has nine stores in Chinese cities and has tied up with companies like Soho China Ltd. and China Unicorn to set up its supercharger infrastructure in the country.
