Tesla Inc on Friday named Tom Zhu senior vice president of the company's automobile business, making him one of the top four executives at Tesla along with Elon Musk, CFO Zachary Kirkhorn and powertrain head Andrew Baglino.
Zhu, 43, joined Tesla in 2014 and served in various operational roles before being appointed as Great China vice president in 2018, where he led the construction and operations of Gigafactory Shanghai.
Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory is not only the automaker's highest-capacity car plant worldwide but also the company's largest automotive export center.
China has become Tesla's second-largest market after the US. In 2022, Tesla achieved revenue of $18.15 billion (124.85 billion yuan) in the Chinese market, accounting for over 20 percent of its global revenue.
