Overview
- Siddhant Awasthi said he is leaving after more than eight years, having led the Cybertruck from engineering to mass production and taken over the Model 3 program in July 2024.
- Model Y program manager Emmanuel Lamacchia also announced his departure after nearly eight years, noting he led the vehicle’s global rollout across multiple factories.
- Tesla has not named successors for the Cybertruck, Model 3, or Model Y program leadership, creating immediate succession questions for its core vehicle lines.
- The Cybertruck continues to struggle with recalls and demand: a March filing showed 46,096 built through early 2024, subsequent U.S. recalls included more than 63,000 vehicles for headlights and roughly 6,200 for an off-road light bar, Q3 U.S. sales were about 5,385 (down ~63% year over year), and inventory discounts have appeared.
- Tesla’s Q3 record deliveries were fueled by a rush to capture a $7,500 U.S. tax credit that expired September 30, and analysts expect a fourth-quarter slump as incentives lapse, against a backdrop of several other senior departures this year.