The chairman of the board of directors of Tesla denied a report that the company had started looking for a replacement for Elon Musk, the director general who spent a large part of his time working for President Trump while the sales and profits of the automaker fell.
Robyn Denholm, who has run the board of directors for over six years, told X on Thursday that the Wall Street Journal report was “absolutely false”.
“Tesla CEO is Elon Musk and the board of directors is very confident in its ability to continue to execute on the exciting growth plan to come,” said Denholm on Tesla’s account on X, the social media company that Mr. Musk owns.
The newspaper reported on Wednesday evening that, about a month ago, Tesla’s board of directors had contacted management firms to help seek the replacement of Mr. Musk, quoting “people familiar with the issue”.
A spokesperson for the newspaper said the newspaper was his reports.
After the company announced a 71% drop in quarterly profits last week, Mr. Musk promised to spend more time in Tesla and less time in Washington. He said he would spend one or two days a week at the government’s work.
The absence of Mr. Musk de Tesla as he supervised Mr. Trump’s efforts to reduce public spending and reduce federal jobs has become a painful point with investors. The involvement of Mr. Musk with the administration and the right -wing causes in Europe caused demonstrations among Tesla dealerships and is partly responsible for a sharp drop in sales. Electric vehicle buyers tend to be liberals or centrists.
Tesla’s turnover dropped by 9% in the first quarter of the year to $ 19.3 billion, the company reported last week.
The automaker has lost market share in the United States, China and Europe while competitors like Byd, General Motors and Volkswagen have dozens of electric models. Analysts criticized Tesla for having to extend its range beyond two main cars.
The Sport Model Y Utility vehicle and the Model 3 sedan represent a large majority of Tesla sales. The Cybertruck, Tesla’s new vehicle, was not sold as well as Mr. Musk said.
