Tesla names new China head

Company refuses to give reason for top personnel change

US premium electric car producer Tesla Motors Inc has once again come under the spotlight in China. The company's China President Veronica Wu Bixuan, who only held the position for nine months, is leaving Tesla, it confirmed, but did not specify the reasons for the departure.

The California-based firm has seen frequent changes in its top leadership in China. In March, Wu's predecessor Kinston Chang left the company after one year of service at Tesla.

Tom Zhu Xiaotong, who was in charge of Tesla's charging network in the country, will step in as its new China head, Tesla said in an e-mail statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday. It also said that it is company's policy not to discuss specifics of internal personnel or employee matters.

Frequent changes in the top leadership of a company will surely harm its growth, as it may mean a breakdown in the development strategy and members of the core management team may also leave after the head's resignation, noted Wu Shuocheng, an analyst at industry consultancy Menutor Consulting Shanghai Co.

Tesla founder Elon Musk said previously that the company is expected to sell some 5,000 units of cars in China. In the first nine months this year, China imported 3,431 units of Tesla cars, according to news portal aastocks.com in October, citing customs data. Experts noted that the sales are already better than expected.

Tesla owners can get free car plates in Shanghai, where people need to pay as much as 70,000 yuan ($11,308) to obtain one, which has been a great breakthrough for Tesla in China, said Zhang Yu, managing director at industry consultancy Automotive Foresight (Shanghai) Co.

Bad press

However, under Wu's leadership, Tesla also encountered some negative publicity. A group of consumers held a protest during the Beijing auto show in April, claiming that Tesla did not make deliveries in accordance with the booking order.

Though Musk said later in April that Tesla has reached an agreement with some of the protesting customers, the incident had hurt the loyalty of some of its devoted fans. A Tesla car owner smashed the windshield of its Tesla car on its delivery on June 27 in Beijing, expressing discontent over Tesla's delivery orders.

There have also been complaints that as a premium brand, Tesla cars' interiors are not high enough quality. In response to these doubts, Wu told Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express on December 10 that Tesla used the best material in its interior design and "simplicity does not mean being cheap."

It seems that Tesla is satisfied with the performance of the new China head in the development of the charging network. "Tesla China has seen impressive business expansion and rapid development of the charging network," it said in the Tuesday statement.

Tesla has set up nine stores and service centers in six cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou during the past year, and built about 40 superchargers in 17 cities and nearly 600 destination chargers in more than 60 cities in China, it said.

Growing competition

Tesla's chief marketing officer Jin Jun for its China business told media in November that Tesla is planning to roll out the Model 3, which is priced at only 400,000 yuan. Experts noted that cheaper models are expected to further boost its sales in China.

But Tesla is also facing increasing competition in the premium electric car segment. German carmaker BMW launched its new electric model i3 and hybrid i8, seen as strong rivals for Tesla, in China in September.

"The production technique of the two BMW models is also better than Tesla's," Zhang noted.

But Wu from Menutor is upbeat about Tesla's future in China. "I think Tesla will continue to see strong growth in China and Tesla's popularity is also making Chinese consumers more open to the idea of buying an electric car," he said.