Tesla CFO steps down after 13 years at the company; shares fall
SimonSkafar
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn has stepped down after 13 years with the electric vehicle company.
Vaibhav Taneja was named as CFO in addition to his current role as chief accounting officer.
Shares fell 3% on Monday morning.
Kirkhorn will continue to serve Tesla through the end of the year.
Taneja previously served as corporate controller at TSLA and in various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation. Prior to that, Taneja was employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The change comes as Tesla (TSLA) faces shrinking margins with increasing competition in the EV segment. Last week, the China Passenger Car Association indicated the electric vehicle maker sold 64,285 China-made electric vehicles during the month of July.
While the EV tally was up 128% from a year ago, the level of production was down 31% from June and was the lowest for 2023.
Specifically in China for the month of July, BYD Company Limited (OTCPK:BYDDF) reported a 61% year-on-year rise in July sales to 261,105 passenger vehicles.
Nio (NIO) reported deliveries of 20,462, up 91% month-over-month; Li Auto (LI) reported deliveries of 34,134, up 5% month-over-month; and XPeng (XPEV) reported deliveries of 11,008, up 28% month-over-month.
TSLA is down 20% over the past 12 months, and up 125% this year so far.
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