Omead Afshar, one of Elon Musk's closest confidants and most recently responsible for Tesla's production and sales in North America and Europe, has left the company. The departure of the senior manager marks the latest in a series of leadership changes at Tesla, which is currently suffering from weak sales, declining stock value, and growing strategic uncertainty.

Afshar's name has disappeared from the internal directory, as several people familiar with the matter confirmed. Individual directors who previously reported to Afshar now report to Tom Zhu, the China-born Senior Vice President of Automotive. Zhu, who among other things manages the factory in Shanghai, is one of the three designated top executives at Tesla.

The exact reasons for the move remain unclear. Internally, however, his departure is causing unrest: Afshar was considered close to Musk and effective in operations, especially during the critical ramp-up phase of Model 3, which he retrospectively called “Model 3 Hell” on his X profile. Since 2017, he was part of the “Office of the CEO,” most recently with a cowboy hat emoji as his only job title on LinkedIn.

It was not until 2023 that Afshar took responsibility for sales and manufacturing in two of the key markets – both areas where Tesla is currently struggling with declines. Especially in Europe, political polarization around Musk, increasing competition, and price wars have burdened sales.

The change is part of a series of other personnel departures. Recently, Jenna Ferrua (HR Director North America) and Milan Kovac (Head of Optimus Robotics Development) also left the company. Overall, the changes are emblematic of a strategic reorientation of Tesla – from a pure car manufacturer to an AI and robotics company.

While sales in the core business stagnate, Musk increasingly relies on robot-controlled manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, and the recently introduced robotaxi prototype in Austin. Analysts see this as both a vision and a distraction: The stock is down about 19% since the beginning of the year. Tesla's delivery numbers for the second quarter are expected shortly – they could be the acid test for Musk's reorientation.