Tom Zhu, Tesla’s China president who oversaw Gigafactory Shanghai’s transformation into the world’s largest EV plant, has been appointed to run the brand new Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. That will make the China chief, who joined Tesla China in April 2014, one of many high executives on the EV large.
The choice didn’t come as a shock to business insiders, given how rapidly Gigafactory Shanghai turned a cornerstone manufacturing and export hub for Tesla.
It took the plant merely a 12 months — from December 2018 to December 2019 — to go from building to manufacturing. In August, Gigafactory Shanghai made its one-millionth automobile, accounting for a 3rd of the whole Teslas produced up till that time, Elon Musk tweeted. This November was a file month for the ability with 100,291 automobiles delivered.
Such achievements little doubt make Zhu a most well-liked aide of Musk who promotes a “hardcore” work setting. Whereas Zhu may need a secret recipe for constructing a well-oiled manufacturing group in a short while, China’s distinctive situations aren’t simply replicable in a foreign country.
“Over the previous three years, Gigafactory Shanghai has outperformed its counterparts in Fremont, Texas, and Berlin, though [not all of the success] is attributable to Tom or the China group,” steered Chris Zheng, founding father of Chinese language automotive weblog Channel-Q.
“A pleasant regulatory setting, a powerful provide chain base, and an environment friendly front-line execution group — these are three components which can be at present solely out there in China, so the important thing isn’t Shanghai or Texas. Have a look at BYD. Granted, Tom and his govt group are glorious, however that’s not all,” he added.
Chinese language tech information website PingWest reported Wednesday that Musk has anointed Zhu because the CEO of Tesla International, a brand new govt position in command of gross sales and Gigafactories, whereas Musk continues to guide “key technical works on the agency.”
Musk tweeted Thursday that he continues to “oversee each Tesla & SpaceX, however the groups there are so good that always little is required from me.”
It is a creating story…
