Tesla’s head of Europe is leaving the automaker after reportedly having “disputes” with CEO Elon Musk.
Last year, we reported on Tesla’s head of Europe, Jan Oehmicke, leaving the company.
At the time, Electrek heard that Sascha Zahnd, Vice-President Global Supply Chain at Tesla, was replacing Oehmicke as the head of Europe for the automaker.
Now Germany’s Manager Magazin reports that Zahnd is leaving less than a year in the role:
“Anyone who ascends in the Tesla realm is quickly out in the open. This applies especially to everyone who belongs to the closest management team of Tesla boss Elon Musk (48). Now, according to research by the manager magazine, Sascha Zahnd (44) has hit Tesla’s next European boss. Insiders report that Zahnd is leaving the company after less than a year in office. Tesla initially did not comment on the personnel on request. Insiders report disputes with Musk.”
The publication cites “disputes” with CEO Elon Musk.
Zahnd was in charge of Tesla’s overall operations in Europe, including sales and service.
The executive had been with Tesla since 2016 and reportedly always worked closely with Musk – primarily overseeing the global supply chain.
Zahnd was also reportedly involved in the development of Gigafactory Berlin.
Electrek’s Take
Every time a Tesla exec leaves, it brings back the debate around Tesla having difficulties retaining talent, but there are always a lot of factors at play.
In this case, one of the sources that told us when Zahnd took over the role of head of Europe also told us that he was planning to quit before Oehmicke was apparently let go.
We were told that Zahnd, who is from Switzerland, wanted to go back to Europe.
Elon reportedly offered the position in Europe so he would remain with the company.
Therefore, it’s definitely something that has been in the works for a while.
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