Tesla Motors, maker of the popular all-electric Roadster, announced Wednesday that it has replaced its CEO and will lay off some of its staff.
The San Carlos, California-based company will close its Detroit office as Chairman Elon Musk takes over the CEO slot from Ze’ev Drori, according to Musk’s blog post on Tesla’s site. Mr. Drori will stay on the board as vice chairman.
Mr. Musk reassures customers that Roadsters will still be delivered, but states that production on the Model S, the all-electric sedan that’ll be more affordable than the $100,000 Roadster, will be slowed down until the company gets the loan from the Department of Energy, which he hopes will occur in the second quarter of 2009.
The company hopes to be cash-flow positive within six to nine months, and this, along with “raising the performance bar at Tesla” and “consolidation of operations,” will lead to some layoffs.
No details were given regarding how many employees would be laid off or why Drori left his post.