Tesla China boss Tom Zhu named SVP as Country Sales boom

Tom Zhu

China has played a significant role in boosting Tesla's sales in recent times, with the company offering aggressive price cuts. Fresh estimates from the China Passenger Car Association reveal that the country delivered 88,869 Tesla vehicles in March alone, with more than half of the carmaker's Q1 deliveries originating from its Shanghai factory.

Tom Zhu, who is credited with Tesla's success in China, has rapidly climbed the company's corporate ladder in recent years. According to a new SEC filing, Zhu began serving as the senior vice president of Tesla's automotive unit in April, making him one of the four most important faces at the electric vehicle powerhouse alongside CEO Elon Musk, CFO Zachary Kirkhorn, and Andrew Baglino, SVP of powertrain and energy engineering.

The filing indicates that Zhu joined Tesla in 2014 and served in various operational roles before being named vice president of Greater China, where he oversaw the construction and operations of Gigafactory Shanghai. As the firm's China production ramped up, the 43-year-old executive was brought to Texas to manage the new Gigafactory in Austin, Bloomberg reported in December.

Tesla's success in China didn't come without hard work. Like Musk, Zhu is known for his intense work ethic. During Shanghai's COVID-19 lockdown, he slept in the factory with other workers to keep production running, according to a Reuters report