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Tesla founder and CEO Martin Eberhard steps down, but not out
News of Tesla's co-founder and CEO Martin Eberhard stepping down has been making the rounds in both automotive and tech circles all morning. The gist is that Eberhard will become Tesla's President of Technology so he can stay hands on with the all-electric Tesla Roadster's development, while a man by the name of Michael Marks, formers CEO of a company called Flextronics and one of Tesla's investors, will become interim CEO while a permanent replacement for Eberhard is found. From the reports we've been reading, it makes it sound like Tesla's in turmoil over this management shakeup, with some outlets claiming the executive shuffle will cause additional multi-month delays in the first deliveries of the Tesla Roadster to customers. We have no reason to believe that is the case, and thanks to Sam Abuelsamid over at AutoblogGreen who was able to speak with someone at the company, it appears that Eberhard had been planning to step down for some time, as the day-to-day operation of running a big company was keeping him away from the Tesla Roadster's development. Tesla's Vice President of Marking Darryl Siry told ABG the move is much like what happened at Google when founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin brought in Eric Schmidt to run the show so they could focus on other projects. So it appears that despite some reports you may read, Tesla is not in turmoil and Eberhard's relocation within the company is just one more step on the company's roadmap to producing what promises to be a landmark vehicle.
[Source: AutoblogGreen, Tesla]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
F451 1:23PM (8/13/2007)
In the long run I doubt that Tesla will be a player. Tesla will either be bought-out, fade into oblivion, or simply be beat by the larger players. They currently have no means of producing an affordable vehicle for the mass market.
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Peter 1:39PM (8/13/2007)
Producing mass market cars is not a prerequisite for success in the car business. Do Ferrari, Porsche, or Pagani produce affordable vehicles for the mass market?
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F451 2:44PM (8/13/2007)
Does Tesla have any legacy as the automobiles you mentioned? No. Does Tesla make an automobile has the prestige of the automobiles you mentioned? No. Where do get a Tesla serviced? Although the exotics have limited service centers, they still have service centers. Which would you rather be seen in, a Tesla or a Pagani Zonda?
Peter 4:38PM (8/13/2007)
No company starts with legacy or prestige. A few years back Pagani just came out of nowhere with the Zonda. Thanks to its high performance and exclusivity, prestige followed naturally.
And nobody starts with service centers either. Tesla hasn't delivered cars yet, so why would they have service centers?
SoCal Cuda 6:54PM (8/13/2007)
Every company starts from scratch--Subaru, Toyota, Maserati... Where would you get a pre-356 Porsche coupe serviced in 1950? Tesla will provide a support network, just as McLaren does for the 100 F1 owners around the globe.
How many Pagani service centers are there in America?
And, yes, I'd rather be seen in the Tesla since the Zonda looks like a bizarre insectoid freak machine.
F451 8:36PM (8/13/2007)
It is not going to happen folks, unless one of the larger manufacturer's buys them out.
Kevin 2:37PM (8/13/2007)
The Tesla looks interesting, but I can't see it making much of an impact on the market.
I also wonder about the choice of Lithium Ion batteries. Li-ions have a number of drawbacks; they lose capacity just due to age-they also wear due to charge/discharge cycles like any other rechargeable battery, but aging does it to them too. Lithium Ion batteries also have a propensity for bursting into flame if they're punctured, overheated or otherwise traumatized-say, in oh... a car accident?
Yeah. So I'm not sure about that part. And while I appreciate the fact that electric motors produce lots of torque, I'm not sure that I, for one, will ever be able to reconcile a sports car that doesn't sound like one.
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