Tesla Said to Lose 2 Top Executives at Energy Unit

Tesla's energy unit has lost two major executives, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Arch Padmanabhan, the product director for Tesla's stationary storage unit, and Bob Rudd, a former SolarCity vice president who led North American commercial and utility sales, have both left the company, according to the report.

Tesla declined to comment on the report.

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk told employees on Monday that the company was undergoing a "thorough reorganisation" as it contends with production problems, senior staff departures and recent crashes involving its electric cars.

Tesla has seen a flurry of senior executive exits in recent months at a time when the company is looking to ramp up production and fix the inauspicious launch of the Model 3 sedan, a mid-market car crucial to its success and future profitability that has been plagued by early production problems.

Senior Tesla executives have departed or cut back work. Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving unit, said on Sunday that Matthew Schwall had joined from Tesla, where he was its main technical contact with US safety investigators. Last week, Tesla said Doug Field, senior vice president of engineering, was taking time off to recharge.

In his email to staff, Musk said Tesla was "flattening the management structure to improve communication," combining functions and trimming activities "not vital to the success of our mission" in the reorganisation.

Tesla is developing multiple new vehicles, including a semi-truck, and has registered a new car firm in Shanghai in a likely step toward production in China.

© Thomson Reuters 2018