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Drew Baglino , Tesla ’s SVP of Powertrain and Energy , and Rohan Patel , VP of Public Policy and Business Development , have left the company , Patel told TechCrunch . Patel enounce he decided to leave because of “ [ b]ig overall changes ” at the caller that he declined to pin down . Their departures were first cover byBloomberg .
“ safe for me and hopefully also unspoiled for Tesla , ” Patel tell in a message to TechCrunch . “ Had an amazing run and accomplished path more than I could ’ve ever imagined , as a result of working with the good insurance policy / bizdev team in the business . ” Baglinosaidin a post on X that it was a “ unmanageable decisiveness ” to exit after 18 year at Tesla . Tesla CEO Elon Muskthankedbothof them for their time at the fellowship in posts on his societal metier platform , X.
Their departures come as Tesla is lay off M of employees in a bid to burn costs and boost productivity , according to an interior electronic mail sent to staff by Musk , whichElectrekandBloomberg Newsfirst reported . The electric automaker is cutting “ more than 10 % ” of its global headcount , Musk said in the email . Tesla terminate 2023with over 140,000 employee , meaning the cuts could impact more than 14,000 the great unwashed .
Musk announced the layoffs just two weeks after Tesla reported its firstyear - over - year drop in salesin three years , amid a wide cooling of need for eV . The company has warn investors that sales event growth could be “ notably lower ” in 2024 than its express goal of 50 % development each year . It ’s also middling in between product cycles for the first clock time in years , with the expensive Cybertruck only just latterly going into production and the popular Model Y recruit its 4th twelvemonth without any significant update .
“ As we prepare the troupe for our next phase of increment , it is extremely important to appear at every face of the company for cost reductions and increase productivity , ” Musk said in the email . Tesla ’s growth , he say , has led to “ duplication of purpose and occupation functions in certain area . ”
“ As part of this drive , we have done a thorough follow-up of the organization and made the difficult decision to decoct our headcount by more than 10 % globally . There is nothing I hate more , but it must be done . This will enable us to be lean , innovative and athirst for the next increment phase angle cycle , ” Musk write .
Baglino ’s deviation is the second time a top executive has left the companionship in the preceding year , as Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn stepped down inAugust 2023 . Baglino oversaw engineering for the company ’s powertrain and barrage fire technologies . He also had become one of the more reactive executive director on Musk ’s social media platform . Patel , who spend years as a special helper to President Barack Obama and an adviser on climate and energy , was likewise engaging with Tesla client and fans in recent months .
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Tesla shippeda record1.8 million EVs in 2023 . But the society drop much of the year slashing cost on its most popular model in an effort to neutralize the impact of high-pitched interest rates and increased global competition . The company has also reportedlydropped — or at the very least , stay — plans to build up a humble - price EV that would retail take off at around $ 25,000 , opting instead to use the underlying platform being develop to power an allegedrobotaxithat Musk allege will debut on August 8 .
This tale and headline have been updated to include newsworthiness of the loss of Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel .
