SAN CARLOS, Calif. — More than a dozen employees, including several senior-level executives, have been cut by Tesla Motors, which is struggling to bring its oft-delayed $100,000 Roadster to market.
On his new Web site late Thursday, Tesla's deposed co-founder, Martin Eberhard lists more than a dozen people who have left the company in the past few days. "Watch to see more fall in the coming weeks," Eberhard writes. "Maybe this explains why I got the boot first." Eberhard's blog posting was titled "Stealth Bloodbath."
"This is about accountability," Darryl Siry, Tesla's vice president of sales, marketing and services told the San Jose Mercury News. "If you don't get the job done, there are consequences."
The first production Tesla Roadster was originally slated for delivery in early 2007. But the launch of the two-seater has been stalled, largely due to the high-tech transmission. In late December, the company said it will install an "interim" transmission in the first production models and replace it later with an upgraded transmission.
"Obviously, transitions are always difficult, even with careful planning," said Eberhard. "But axing nearly the entire executive staff, letting the world's foremost EV motor engineer go, trimming down the service organization before the job of opening the first service center is done, ripping through the firmware team — and doing it by random firings on a daily basis — are all hard to explain."
What this means to you: Troubled times at the place Eberhard describes as "the poster child of clean tech companies." — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
On his new Web site late Thursday, Tesla's deposed co-founder, Martin Eberhard lists more than a dozen people who have left the company in the past few days. "Watch to see more fall in the coming weeks," Eberhard writes. "Maybe this explains why I got the boot first." Eberhard's blog posting was titled "Stealth Bloodbath."
"This is about accountability," Darryl Siry, Tesla's vice president of sales, marketing and services told the San Jose Mercury News. "If you don't get the job done, there are consequences."
The first production Tesla Roadster was originally slated for delivery in early 2007. But the launch of the two-seater has been stalled, largely due to the high-tech transmission. In late December, the company said it will install an "interim" transmission in the first production models and replace it later with an upgraded transmission.
"Obviously, transitions are always difficult, even with careful planning," said Eberhard. "But axing nearly the entire executive staff, letting the world's foremost EV motor engineer go, trimming down the service organization before the job of opening the first service center is done, ripping through the firmware team — and doing it by random firings on a daily basis — are all hard to explain."
What this means to you: Troubled times at the place Eberhard describes as "the poster child of clean tech companies." — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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