Elon Musk Plans To Promote Tesla's China Head to Global CEO According To Speculations

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will reportedly appoint China head Tom Zhu to a global role in the tech company.

Speculative reports from Inside EVs imply that Tom Zhu, Tesla's head of China, is reportedly in line for a higher role at the company to be appointed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

While the speculation is yet to be confirmed, Electrek previously reported that Zhu had been selected to lead the Gigafactory in Texas to resolve production engineering problems in the United States. However, it is still unclear if the role is long-term.

Additionally, speculations report that Zhu will be working on new projects, such as the Cybertruck, and that Zhu's Chinese coworkers think he is being prepared for a higher role at a time when CEO Elon Musk is trying to revamp Twitter.

Elon Musk Plans Bigger Role for Tesla China Head

According to recent sources, Zhu appears to be leaving his job in China and is anticipated to accept a more senior and varied position at Tesla, and Elon Musk might have finally chosen his successor.

James Murdoch, a Tesla board who testified earlier this month in court on Nov. 16 as part of a trial contesting Elon Musk's 2018 Tesla compensation package, claims that Elon Musk recently chose someone as a prospective replacement to lead the electric carmaker. Murdoch omitted to identify his successor by name.

Zhu has played a crucial role in guiding Tesla to numerous accomplishments in China, including a sharp rise in sales. He contributed to the creation of Giga Shanghai, which is currently Tesla's main export center. The president of Tesla China also tried to open service centers in the nation.

Who Is Tesla China's, Tom Zhu?

Before his rise as China's Tesla head, Reuters reports that Zhu first met Cal Lankton, who was at that time the director of worldwide EV charging infrastructure at Tesla, while he was in charge of Kaibo Engineering projects in Libya and Sudan. Shortly after, Lankton eventually hired Zhu to oversee the installation of Tesla's charging facilities in China.

However, Zhu was not in charge of Tesla's Chinese brand when he started working for the company in April 2014. Instead, he began his career as the nation's Supercharger program director for Tesla. Having stated that, he was quickly allowed to advance to the positions of Global Vice President and President of China for Tesla.

At the end of 2014, when Tesla's Model S sales were declining in the biggest auto market in the world, Zhu was appointed Tesla's national manager for China. Tesla created an adaptor so the cars could be charged using a revised Chinese charging standard under Zhu, and the carmaker was granted an exemption from traffic restriction laws in important cities like Beijing.

Thus, under Zhu's leadership, Tesla's sales in China increased due to the changes, and its revenue from China more than tripled from 2015 to 2016.