Tesla Loses Two Model S Executives Before Sedan Makes Debut

[grisnjam]

Boo:

Tesla Loses Two Model S Executives Before Sedan Makes Debut; Shares Slump - Bloomberg

[ckessel]

You know, yesterday Elon tweets about "herding cats" and I thought "that's weird, must be something frustrating at work" and I damn near decided to sit on my money for a few days. Should have trusted that instinct. I feel somewhat ill. Losing the chief engineer and chassis engineer? Yea, kind of crucial elements in a car.

[vfx]

Tesla Loses Two Model S Executives Before Sedan Makes Debut; Shares Slump - Bloomberg....

Peter was on the Model X last summer and the S is first year presold so this is nothing news in the long run.

[Citizen-T]

He was. I just hope that he left for personal reasons, not because he didn't like choices that were made or something like that.

[rolosrevenge]

I am very curious to know why they left. Tempting to put more money into it, but this time it is a disturbing development that caused the fall. hhmmm.

[ckessel]

Don't panic yet. If Elon announces a $1B deal with Toyota on the upcoming conference call, this drop will be erased in a single day. Also, I don't think the market has any idea how many reservations have been made in the 4th quarter, and we have the Model X event coming up.

No doubt, this hurts (and on my birthday too, thanks a lot). But I think the next few months still look really good.

The fact it's two at once is what really bothers me. That can't be coincidence. People don't leave like that when things are going well.

[Doug_G]

The fact it's two at once is what really bothers me. That can't be coincidence. People don't leave like that when things are going well.

It may not have actually been simultaneous, and could be completely uncorrelated. Announcing them together gets the bad news out of the way in one go.

Personal reasons are entirely possible. I'm not sure how old Peter Rawlingson is, but he's obviously not a youngster and may be wanting to slow down. From all accounts it's a highly caffeinated environment at Tesla.

In terms of timing, this is probably the best time to go if he wanted to bow out. You don't leave a company in the lurch by exiting in the middle of a major project. The vast bulk of the Model S engineering is complete; right now they're polishing the details and doing the production transition. Probably the major design elements of Model X have also been completed.

[Citizen-T]

I wonder if they were bought out by another car maker. The fact that Tesla's technology is so far ahead of other EVs, and that the Cheif Engineer and Chassis Engineer left at the same time. Would not be surprised to see them at Nissan or GM or maybe even Fisker in the near future. If that happens, we might see some lawsuits too.

Might just be about money.

[Eberhard]

I wonder if they were bought out by another car maker. The fact that Tesla's technology is so far ahead of other EVs, and that the Cheif Engineer and Chassis Engineer left at the same time. Would not be surprised to see them at Nissan or GM or maybe even Fisker in the near future. If that happens, we might see some lawsuits too.

Might just be about money.

They were destroying the value of their options.

[Citizen-T]

Found this on the official tesla forums, but no link.

Having completed conceptual and design engineering work on Model S, Peter has decided to step away to tend to personal matters in the U.K.,” Reyes said. Sampson had “fully transitioned” off the Model S at the time of his departure, Reyes said without elaborating.

PETER RAWLINSON AND NICK SAMPSON LEAVE TESLA! | Forums | Tesla Motors