Tesla Sees Leadership Shakeup At Giga Nevada As EV Maker Reportedly Pushes For 'Next Phase'

Tesla Inc's TSLA manufacturing facility at Reno, Nevada has undergone a leadership change, according to a report.

What Happened: Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory has seen a leadership shakeup with the exit of Chris Lister, the former vice president of Gigafactory Operations, with Hrushikesh “Hrushi” Sagar taking the helm, reported CNBC, based on leaked audio from a Tesla international meeting.

Sagar reportedly spoke to hundreds of Gigafactory employees on Thursday afternoon about management changes and factory milestones and new goals for the facility.

“I really appreciate what Chris Lister did here ... Elon and Tesla is very thankful, for his contribution, but at the same time now we are moving on to the next phase,” he said, according to CNBC.

Tesla did not immediately reply to Benzinga's request for comment at the time of the writing. 

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Why It Matters: Lister was the Vice President of Operations at Tesla for a little more than four years and was previously with PepsiCo PEP for 22 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Sagar, according to LinkedIn, has been Tesla's Senior Director, Vehicle Operations and Manufacturing, for two months.

He reports directly to CEO Elon Musk and will also be in charge of Tesla’s assembly plant in Fremont, California, noted CNBC.

New Goals: Sagar reportedly said that Tesla made 134,000 cars at its Fremont factory in the second quarter of 2022 and August was a record month.

He said the California facility can produce 12,000 cars per week and aims to push that up to 14,000 as its next goal, according to CNBC.

At the meeting, Tesla Site Leader Eric Montgomery reportedly told employees that they should strive to output 8,800 high voltage battery packs per week to sustain Fremont’s production goals. He also asked employees to “maximize all-wheel-drive builds.”

Sagar also touched on where future Tesla factories would be built and said he had some idea on the candidates but wasn’t “at liberty right now to disclose those candidates,” according to the report.

Price Action: On Thursday, Tesla shares closed 2% higher at $289.26 in the regular session and rose 0.25% in the after-hours trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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