Musk Gets Tesla's China Chief To Run Texas Gigafactory

Tesla Inc. chief Elon Musk has roped in longtime executive and the company's president in China, Tom Zhu, to help run the carmaker's new plant in Austin, Texas, Bloomberg News reported.

Photo Insert: Zhu, who joined Tesla in 2014 and is heading Tesla's Asia Pacific operations, is in Austin this week.

Zhu, who joined Tesla in 2014 and is heading Tesla's Asia Pacific operations, is in Austin this week. He has brought some of his engineering team from China with him to assist in overseeing the ramp-up of Giga Texas, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Giga Texas, which opened earlier this year, makes the Model Y and will produce Tesla's upcoming Cybertruck. It is not clear whether Zhu will retain his Asia responsibilities or for how long he will be in Austin, Bloomberg added.

Pingwest, a Chinese media outlet, earlier claimed that Zhu was going to replace Musk himself as Tesla’s global CEO.

Last week, Tesla won a rumor-mongering case against Pingwest before the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court, which ordered the publication to remove the article that claimed Chinese workers were being oppressed by Musk and were given low-quality food.

The court likewise ordered Pingwest to retract the inaccurate article and pay a fine equivalent to $14,000.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic