The chair of Tesla’s board of administrators denied a report that the corporate had begun to search for a substitute for Elon Musk, the chief govt who has been spending a lot of his time working for President Trump whereas the automaker’s gross sales and income have plummeted.
Robyn Denholm, who has led the board for greater than six years, mentioned on X on Thursday that the report in The Wall Road Journal was “completely false.”
“The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the board is very assured in his potential to proceed executing on the thrilling progress plan forward,” Ms. Denholm mentioned on Tesla’s account on X, the social media agency Mr. Musk owns.
The Journal reported late Wednesday that, a couple of month in the past, the Tesla board had contacted govt search corporations to assist search for Mr. Musk’s substitute, citing “folks aware of the matter.”
A spokesman for The Journal mentioned the newspaper stood by its reporting.
After the corporate reported a 71 % drop in quarterly revenue final week, Mr. Musk promised to spend more time at Tesla and fewer time in Washington. He mentioned he would spend one or two days per week on authorities work.
Mr. Musk’s absence from Tesla whereas he oversaw Mr. Trump’s efforts to slash authorities spending and reduce federal jobs has develop into a sore level with buyers. Mr. Musk’s involvement with the administration and with right-wing causes in Europe has prompted protests at Tesla dealerships and is partly accountable for a steep drop in gross sales. Electrical car patrons are usually liberals or centrists.
Tesla’s income fell 9 % within the first quarter of the 12 months, to $19.3 billion, the corporate reported final week.
The automaker has misplaced market share in the USA, China and Europe as opponents like BYD, Common Motors and Volkswagen introduce dozens of electrical fashions. Analysts have faulted Tesla for failing to increase its lineup past two fundamental vehicles.
The Mannequin Y sport utility car and the Mannequin 3 sedan account for a overwhelming majority of Tesla’s gross sales. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s latest car, has not offered in addition to Mr. Musk mentioned it will.
