The departure of Omead Afshar da Tesla, after seven years alongside Elon Musk, is more than a simple farewell. For many within the company, Afshar – sales manager and operations in North America and Europe – was not just an operational manager: he was one of the few able to translate the intuitions – often unpredictable – of his boss. His dismissal, decided directly from Musk, according to internal sources, arrives in a critical moment for the Californian company: sales slow down, the competition accelerates, and the turnover in the key roles is putting to the test the group’s hold.
Afhar had earned the nickname “problem solver” on the field – what solved problems, to mention a well -known masterpiece of Tarantino, Pulp Fiction – able to keep complex processes together, from the supply to the assembly chains, up to the coordination of sales in North America and Europe, two of the most strategic markets for Tesla. At the end of 2024 he had been promoted vice president, but in the meantime the tide was already changing. Deliveries in Europe fell for five consecutive months, with a 28% drop only in May. Overseas, the gradual withdrawal of state incentives and the growing pressure of the Chinese brands have redesigned the company’s priorities, making the position of Aftershar more fragile.
Bleeding of apical figures
His is not an isolated case. In recent months, Tesla has witnessed a real hemorrhage of apical figures. Among the most relevant departures, Milan Kovac, head of the Optimus project (the humanoid robot on which Musk aims very strongly and who according to him will multiply Tesla’s profits like no other product), and Jenna Ferrua, at the head of the human resources for North America, stand out. According to The Atlantic, about one out of three manager has left Tesla in the last year – for dismissal or resignation – while the company has cut 14,000 jobs. An bleeding that begins to raise questions about the group’s ability to preserve the human capital necessary to compete in an increasingly technological and hypercompetitive sector.
The reasons for this “brain drain” are manifold. But all, in one way or another, lead back to Elon Musk. His leadership, for years considered visionary and unconventional, today appears divided among too many fronts. The commitment to Spacex, the guide of X (ex Twitter), and the political involvement in favor of Donald Trump – increasingly explicit, before the recent break – also generated bad moods among employees. Some, in anonymous form, asked for Musk’s resignation, fearing that his choices – more ideological than industrial – can compromise the reputation and holding of the company in the medium term.
A former cruise to strengthen the robotaxi team
But the news was released on Friday afternoon that the Austin company hired the former Executive of Cruise, Henry Kuang, as director of the AI ​​of the automotive producer, according to a report from the Electrek news site, to reinforce the team dedicated to the robotaxi operations in the United States. Kuang was responsible at the driver’s unit of driver of General Motors, according to his LinkedIn profile. Cruise’s operations had been interrupted by GM after a serious accident in San Francisco. The robotaxi unit had procured 8 billion losses to the Detroit giant. Tesla did not respond to Reuters’ commentary request or Kuang was reached by Reuters.
