Senior executives at Tesla, responsible for the Cybertruck and Model Y programs, have resigned from their positions in consecutive announcements over the past weekend.
Siddhant Awasthi, head of the Cybertruck, announced his departure on Sunday night (9). He started at Tesla as an intern and rose through the ranks to lead the Cybertruck division. More recently, he had also taken over the Model 3 program.
Just a few hours after Awasthi’s announcement, the head of the Model Y, Emmanuel Lamacchia, also announced his resignation. Lamacchia, who spent about eight years at Tesla, oversaw the production and international launch of the Model Y across all factories.
Tesla has lost several senior executives over the past year, including Daniel Ho, who led the Model 3 launch, and David Zhang, who managed the Models S and X divisions.
Troy Jones, Tesla’s top sales executive in North America, left the company in July. He had worked for the company for 15 years, according to the The Wall Street Journal. His departure came less than a month after Omead Afshar, Elon Musk’s top adviser, left.
A few months ago, Tesla also lost Jenna Ferrua, the HR executive responsible for the North American division. Milan Kovac, the company’s top AI executive, also left earlier this year.
Elon Musk’s company has faced a turbulent year, marked by successive declines in electric vehicle sales since early 2025.
This decline is attributed to increased competition in electric vehicles, particularly from Chinese companies such as BYD. It’s worth noting that Musk had mocked the idea that BYD could ever become a competitor.
Additionally, Musk’s brief (and controversial) stint as director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a White House program aimed at cutting costs, negatively affected not only his personal image but also Tesla’s reputation.
Musk’s partnership with U.S. President Donald Trump triggered a wave of criticism and sparked a boycott campaign against Tesla and other companies owned by the billionaire, such as X (formerly Twitter) and xAI, responsible for the AI tool Grok.
Still, Musk seems to remain a key bet for Tesla’s future. He appears to plan to put Tesla’s electric vehicles on the back burner to invest in robotics, AI, and autonomous taxis, a strategy that seems to please investors.
During a meeting last week, shareholders approved a $1 trillion bonus for Musk if he meets a series of targets set for the company’s growth.
The entrepreneur even threatened to leave his CEO position if the record bonus was not approved, while Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm issued a letter to shareholders emphasizing Musk’s importance to the company and clarifying that the bonus was intended to retain his “talent.”
Photo: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
