Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Bark louder, little dog.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Petty moves from a petty man.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

He really is that stupid.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Late Night Open Thread: Tesla’s New *Working* Boss

Late Night Open Thread: Tesla’s New *Working* Boss

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Certainly, Tesla’s biggest financial backers retain a certain level of control:

Tesla Inc’s China chief Tom Zhu has been promoted to take direct oversight of the electric carmaker’s U.S. assembly plants as well as sales operations in North America and Europe, according to an internal posting of reporting lines reviewed by Reuters.

The Tesla posting showed that Zhu’s title of vice president for Greater China had not changed and that he also retained his responsibilities as Tesla’s most senior executive for sales in the rest of Asia as of Tuesday.

The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Chief Executive Elon Musk, with direct oversight for deliveries in all of its major markets and operations of its key production hubs.

The reporting lines for Zhu would keep Tesla’s vehicle design and development – both areas where Musk has been heavily involved – separate while creating an apparent deputy to Musk on the more near-term challenges of managing global sales and output…

[Musk retains the corner office and all the Legos & crayons development prototype tools; Zhu has the keys to the cashbox and the HR files]

Zhu and a team of his reports were brought in by Tesla late last year to troubleshoot production issues in the United States, driving an expectation among his colleagues then that he was being groomed for a bigger role.

Zhu’s appointment to a global role comes at a time when Musk has been distracted by his acquisition of Twitter and Tesla analysts and investors have urged action that would deepen the senior executive bench and allow him to focus on Tesla…

Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014. Before that he was a project manager at a company established by his MBA classmates at Duke University, advising Chinese contractors working on infrastructure projects in Africa.

During Shanghai’s two-month COVID lockdown, Zhu was among the first batch of employees sleeping in the factory as they sought to keep it running, people who work with him have said.

Zhu, a no-fuss manager who sports a buzz cut, favors Tesla-branded fleece jackets and has lived in a government-subsidized apartment that is a 10-minute drive from the Shanghai Gigafactory. It was not immediately clear whether he would move after his promotion.

He takes charge of Tesla’s main production hubs at a time when the company is readying the launch of Cybertruck and a revamped version of its Model 3 sedan. Tesla has also said it is developing a cheaper electric vehicle but has not provided details on that plan…

Tesla board member James Murdoch said in November the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk without naming the person. Murdoch did not respond to a request for comment…


(Arguably, this leaves aside a largish group of kleptocratic rulers and oligarchs, but Musk can console himself that he isn’t being winkled out of a ‘spider hole’ by an angry mob of his former palace guardsmen. Yet.)

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  3. 3.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    One Twitter here, one Twitter there, and pretty soon you’re talkn real money

  4. 4.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    Every thing Dump touches (Kevin McCarthy’s career, the value of Musk’s stock) dies

  5. 5.

    Yutsano

    “Tesla is executing better than ever!” Mr Musk tweeted on Dec 16. “We don’t control the Federal Reserve. That is the real problem here.”

    Mon Dieu. Is there a term for watching someone devolve in real time?

  6. 6.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    McCarthy was perhaps the first to say Dump was taking bribes from Putin and then he proceeded to debase himself sending boxes of candy to the beast, groveling on bended knee for his support after the coup and for what – Three Strikes and he’s out – his career is over.

    To boot, he’s too stoopid, unliked, and unconnected to cash in as a lobbyist or to sit on corporate boards. Fired from the leadership, without any committee portfolio, he’s just another back bencher only with a one way ticket to Palookaville.

  7. 7.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    @Yutsano: ​
      He’s a half step away from blaming the Elders of Zion for his humiliating own goal.

  10. 10.

    David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch

    At this very moment, Cheryl L. Johnson, current presiding officer of the House, is 2nd in line to the presidency. Senator Patty Murray from Washington, as President pro tempore of the Senate, 3rd in line to the presidency.

  11. 11.

    patrick II

    My mother passed away tonight.  She was 100 years old. She went peacefully in her bed with my brother and sister holding her hands. She was kind and loved by many. I will miss her.

  14. 14.

    Darkrose

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Until he was elected to the state Assembly in 2002, McCarthy had spent his entire life in Bakersfield: born there, went to high school there, went to CSU Bakersfield for his BA and MBA.

  15. 15.

    Anne Laurie

    @Yutsano: Is there a term for watching someone devolve in real time?

    Tuesday, Musk tweeted ’12 months ago I was Person of the Year’. SAD!

  16. 16.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    If guess the question is now will McCarthy be able to last as long as Speaker a bucket of milk from one of families cow’s.

  19. 19.

    ColoradoGuy

    Hmm. With Zhu’s ascension, I wonder if TikTok data surveillance concerns will apply to Teslas going forward (the internal GPS in the car passing its location-data stream to overseas nations, etc.)

    If US government officials are prohibited from having TikTok on phones used for official business, what of Teslas going forward? Cars didn’t use to “phone home” all the time, but they do now, the same as cell phones.

  20. 20.

    Shalimar

    @Anne Laurie: 12 months ago, Musk was worth roughly 20 Twitters.  Now, what with him artificially inflating the value of Twitter while also losing almost everything else, he’s worth maybe 3 Twitters.

  21. 21.

    Shalimar

    @patrick II: Condolences for such a huge loss.  As someone who takes care of my mother 24/7, I know it will happen in my future but can’t even imagine what it will feel like.

  23. 23.

    patrick II

    Thank you for your condolences.  It is an odd thing that you go through life meeting all kinds of people, some of whom you admire greatly, some not.  But you come back home a realize the best person you have ever met you have known all of your life.

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    If they can reliably deliver the goods, a Fisker at about $23k after EV credit could prove mighty tempting to the masses.

    Next up is the Fisker PEAR, or “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution,” a smaller EV Fisker Inc. claims will launch with a remarkably competitive price of $29,900. That’s before any tax incentives, which it does stand to receive because it’s due to be built at Foxconn’s plant in Lordstown, Ohio. 

    If Fisker Inc. pulls this off, it will be one of the very few players even bothering with more affordable EVs in the current market. Most automakers are going for luxury buyers to offset the high R&D and manufacturing costs involved with battery power. 

    But this is where Fisker says he sees an opening.… Source

  27. 27.

    Shalimar

    @NotMax: There is an article at Fortune interviewing a longtime Tesla bear who says the stock will be down to $24.33 by the end of the year.  He specifically says the high valuation in the past was in the expectation of rapid sales growth, but actual new orders last quarter were only 250,000, which means the only reason Tesla had positive growth in 2022 was their backlog of orders.

    I have been a Tesla sceptic for years so it doesn’t take much to convince me, but he makes a great argument

    On the other hand, I would have an EV now if they were under $30k.  The Fisker sounds promising.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    @Shalimar

    Too, a lot of Teslas are leased rather than sold*, which if so bodes for being hip deep in previous generation inventory a few years hence.

    *Anecdata as everyone I know who drives one is leasing it.

  32. 32.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Yutsano: I love it when people ask Elon Musk why his company’s stock is tanking harder than everyone else’s, and he gives reasons why everyone else’s stock should be tanking. I hope this doesn’t actually work on anyone.

  34. 34.

    Tom Levenson

    @Shalimar: dead thread, but the Chevy Bolt is well under $30K and its stablemate, the Bolt EUV is right around that mark.

    Jonathan Gitlin. The car editor over at Ars Technica, thinks very well of them.

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @patrick II: ​ Condolences on your mother’s passing. That she was kind, and loved by many, tells me she was a good person — but I knew that already, because you’re her son. (i.e., apple, tree​)

  39. 39.

    J R in WV

    @patrick II: ​

    My mother passed away tonight. She was 100 years old. She went peacefully in her bed with my brother and sister holding her hands. She was kind and loved by many. I will miss her.

    So sorry for your loss — 100 is such a large number, she really managed to run her score up there.

    I am also glad her passing was peaceful and with your siblings there for her, we all know you were there in spirit. Take care of yourself right now. And Know that all the jackals are feeling for you.

  40. 40.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014. Before that he was a project manager at a company established by his MBA classmates at Duke University, advising Chinese contractors working on infrastructure projects in Africa.

    In other words, its very likely a Chinese agent/spy/operative (or potential one) who’s been lurking in the wings, waitng for the right moment will now run Tesla.

    The Chinese relationships he’s embracing are not goint to go well with the type of Americans who could consider buying one of his dumpster fires of a vehicle. He’s doomed. Which means he’s liely going to move closer to China for his funding and business deals.

    I think it’s time for the US Government to get VERY concerned about the national security implications of doing business with any company Elon Musk owns.

  42. 42.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Ella in New Mexico: What is your evidence that Zhu is a Chinese agent, other than the fact that he was born in China?

    Are we really that ready to embrace McCarthyism now?

    Elon Musk has never been known as an “operations” guy, & his reputation as an “ideas” guy has been greatly inflated. Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory is known to be much more efficient than the US facilities, & the speed at which it went from a green field to mass production, & realizing further capacity expansion, has been impressive. Tesla has also been selling quite well in China. I don’t think it is surprising that Musk might tap the person who has overseen the successful China operation to lead improving operational efficiency in the US plants, as well as starting up the new Gigafactory in Germany. Of course, Musk may be overly optimistic, as what worked in China may not work in the US or Germany. For a potential parallel, TSMC is certainly struggling w/ cultural clash as it tries to start up its new chip plant in Arizona, & TSMC leadership expects the AZ plant to be uncompetitive (cost wise) against its operations in Taiwan for the foreseeable future.

    While I think Tesla vehicles are overhyped & overpriced for the quality of design & build (not to mention potential if rare fire hazards associated w/ nickel-cobalt-aluminum & nickel-cobalt-maganese batteries), it is still the most popular EV brand in the world. It’s greatest emerging competition (outside of the N. America) are in fact the burgeoning Chinese EV makers (both state & privately owned).

  43. 43.

    azlib

    Patty Murray is 3rd in line in the Presidential succession.  The Speaker’s post is currently vacant.

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