Tesla loses its head of quality to Stellantis

Tesla’s head of quality, Kahiree Gans, is leaving the automaker to return to Stellantis — the same company Tesla poached him from less than three years ago.

Gans has updated his LinkedIn profile to list his new role as “Vice President, Global SQD” at Stellantis, while describing himself as “Ex-Tesla Head of Quality.”

From Stellantis to Tesla and back again

Gans is a round-trip story. As we reported in November 2023, Tesla poached Gans from Stellantis to lead quality operations at Gigafactory Texas, where he most recently held the title of head of quality.

Before Tesla, he spent roughly a decade at Stellantis and predecessor FCA in powertrain engineering and production roles, finishing as head of manufacturing quality for the engine division. He started his career at GM and holds a mechanical engineering degree from Tuskegee University and a master’s in manufacturing engineering from the University of Michigan.

Now he is going back. His new title, Vice President of Global SQD — Supplier Quality Development — puts him in charge of supplier quality and performance across Stellantis on a global basis, a step up from the divisional role he left in 2023.

The timing is notable on both ends. Tesla hired Gans as Gigafactory Texas was ramping Cybertruck production, standing up in-house 4680 cell manufacturing, and preparing its “unboxed” assembly process for next-generation vehicles. He is leaving as that next-gen roadmap has been repeatedly pushed back and Cybertruck volumes have come in far below Tesla’s own targets.

Another name on a long list of departures

Gans is the latest in a steady stream of senior Tesla departures. Since mid-2024, Tesla has lost leaders across nearly every core function — powertrain, software, sales, manufacturing, program management, battery development, Supercharging, and finance.

Just this spring, Tesla’s VP of finance Sendil Palani left after 17 years, and Tesla’s head of customer experience departed for Coinbase on the same day as yet another Cybercab production leader exited. Tesla has cycled through four global sales leaders in under two years and no longer has any of the original program managers who launched the Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, or Cybercab.

Quality is a particularly sensitive seat to lose. Tesla and Stellantis brands have repeatedly landed near the bottom of third-party reliability rankings, including Consumer Reports’ used-car brand study, which makes the head-of-quality role a high-stakes one at both companies.

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