Tesla Feels Credit Crunch
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Add Tesla Motors to the list of car companies buffeted by the financial crisis.
The San Carlos-based maker of the all-electric, $109,000 Roadster said today that it was removing its chief executive, delaying production of its model S sedan, closing offices in Michigan and London and laying off an unspecified number of employees in response to a tight credit market.
According to Darryl Siri, Tesla’s head of marketing and sales, the company will focus on cutting overhead on the Roadster. ‘The idea is that because of the fundraising environment and capital markets, we’re going to focus on making the Roaster a positive cashflow core product.’
Siri said that the number of layoffs has not been finalized, because it was unclear how many employees from its offices in Rochester Hills, Mich., and England would be absorbed into the Northern California headquarters.
The company’s CEO, Ze’ev Drori, has been replaced by chairman Elon Musk, according to Siri and a blog item posted by Tesla on its site today. Drori was hired less than a year ago to fill the CEO job, but will remain as vice chairman of the company.
More news as it breaks on this story.
-- Ken Bensinger
The front of a Tesla Roadster is shown at a showroom in Menlo Park, Calif., last month. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)