Tesla has brought its China executive Tom Zhu to the US to help direct the ramp-up of Giga Texas.
Zhu started with Tesla in 2014 and worked to expand the Supercharger network. He oversaw the construction of Giga Shanghai and, up till now, was in charge of Tesla’s Asia-Pacific operation.
There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that Zhu would replace Musk as CEO. However, the Tesla executive is coming to Austin, Texas, with his engineering team to assist in ramping up production at the plant.
The American EV maker manufactures the Model Y in Texas, where it will likely make the Cybertruck in 2023.
How long Zhu will work in Austin is unknown, or whether the move is permanent. However, he might have been in Texas for a while as we reported last month that Tesla China was sending over about 200 engineers to help out in Fremont.
CEO Elon Musk has been spending more time at Twitter, which he just acquired, and has already arranged to have reduced responsibilities at another of his companies, SpaceX.
Zhu has been singled out for praise by Musk for his work in China, Tesla’s second biggest market.
Under Zhu, Giga Shanghai has been upgraded, and production capacity doubled. The plant shipped a record 100,291 vehicles last month. It produces the Model 3 and Model Y for China, the rest of Asia, and Europe.
