Tesla reportedly loses engineering executive and Europe chief

Tesla Inc. executive departures are apparently picking up speed again, with reports saying the electric-car maker has lost its head of Europe and a top engineering manager.

German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported that Jan Oehmicke, Tesla’s Europe chief, has left the company, without saying how it got the information. Steve MacManus, vice president of interior and exterior engineering, also exited, Business Insider said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Tesla didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment. The reports follow electric-vehicle start-up Lucid Motors Inc. announcing Monday that it had hired away Tesla’s vice president of production, Peter Hochholdinger, to oversee manufacturing.

Chief Executive Elon Musk last week pressed employees to “go all out” in pursuit of a quarterly deliveries record after a disappointing first three months of the year spurred concerns about demand.

Tesla shares slumped as much as 1.7% to $223.41 as of 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The stock is down about 32% this year.

Turnover was rampant at Tesla in 2018, with Musk losing senior managers from sales, accounting, finance, supply management, human resources and communications. The company promoted from within to replace executives who left the roles of chief financial officer and general counsel this year.