Tesla CFO is leaving, former CFO Ahuja to take over

Tesla Chief Financial Officer Jason Wheeler is leaving the electric car maker, Recode reports. CEO Elon Musk announced the news to analysts and news media during Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

Jason Wheeler joined Tesla in 2015, and his position will be taken over by Deepak Ahuja, Tesla's former chief financial officer. Deepak Ahuja joined Tesla in 2008 after working at Ford for nearly 10 years and announced his retirement in 2015.

Musk said: "Deepak Ahuja's return is a long-term plan, not a temporary consideration."

According to Musk, Jason Wheeler will focus on the development of public policy after his departure.

Jason Wheeler said during the conference call: "For many years, I have wanted to make a breakthrough in the field of public policy. If I didn't find a better successor, I might not feel comfortable leaving. In fact, Deepak Ahuja has the energy and ability to do the job. I think he is a great leader."

Prior to joining Tesla, Jason Wheeler served as Google's vice president of finance . Prior to that, he also served as Google's financial director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Tesla is going all-in on Model 3 production

Although Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the company's earnings call that Tesla has enough cash flow to drive production of the Model 3 electric car, it is expected that Tesla may need additional financing this year.

Tesla expects its Model 3 electric car production to be "on track" in July and to enter mass production in September. Musk said in an earnings call that Tesla still has a large number of orders from pre-order customers to fulfill, but he did not give a specific number.

It is understood that Tesla plans to produce 5,000 Model 3 electric vehicles per week by the end of the fourth quarter of this year, and by a certain period in 2018, the weekly output will reach about 10,000 vehicles.

Tesla said it plans to finalize the locations of the third, fourth and fifth Gigafactories later this year. Tesla already has its first Gigafactory, which is located in Nevada and mainly manufactures battery products. In the future, it will also produce parts for the Model 3 electric car. In addition, Tesla will build a second Gigafactory in New York, which will mainly produce solar products.

Musk said during the call that Tesla management believes the company's energy storage business "will grow twice as fast as the automotive business."

However, the launch of the Model 3 electric car represents a very important step for the company in the field of electric car manufacturing. It will also become a landmark event in Tesla's transition to the automotive industry, representing Tesla's transformation from a small high-end electric car manufacturer to a car manufacturer for the general consumer market.

"Tesla is now at a new starting point and it's now entering the days of dancing with sharks," said Jack Nerad, executive editor and head of market analysis at Kelley Blue Book.

Jack Nerald said in an interview with reporters: "I think most people may have largely overlooked one thing, that is, the leap that Tesla has made - this is a huge leap, crossing a huge gap - from a high-end electric car manufacturer to a truly professional car manufacturer. There are many shortcomings in this process. In fact, the most difficult thing in the transformation process is not the various skills of making cars."

Tesla will manage car sales and service provision on the same level, carefully master its product cadence (the process of switching between new and old models) and focus on other aspects, eventually making itself a much larger company than it is now.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.