Industry

Tesla Shanghai Factory Director Song Gang Resigns

Dec 20, 2024, 17:07pm2024/12/20 17:07:52 Pandaily

Tesla‘s Vice President of Manufacturing and General Manager of the Shanghai factory, Song Gang, submitted his resignation several months ago. December 18th (Wednesday) is his last working day. Two sources said that Song Gang plans to join a local emerging car brand currently facing production capacity constraints.

Currently, Tesla has not officially appointed a new general manager for the Shanghai factory. Two sources said that the most likely candidate to replace Song Gang is Fei Wenjin, Senior Director of Vehicle and Parts Quality at Tesla’s Shanghai factory.

The factory manager of Tesla’s Shanghai plant is the most critical position in China, apart from Tom Zhu, overseeing the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Shanghai plant, as well as the battery and motor factories. Apart from supply chain management being under the jurisdiction of the US headquarters, all other manufacturing-related departments are managed by the factory manager. The aforementioned informed sources commented that Song Gang’s departure signifies that those who initially helped Tesla establish its Shanghai plant have completed their historical mission.

Song Gang joined Tesla in 2018 after working at Ford and SAIC General Motors. He was Tesla’s first employee at the Shanghai plant and led a team to achieve local production of Model 3 within one year.

In 2020, Tesla began construction on Phase 2 of its Shanghai plant for domestic production of Model Y, with this team also led by Song Gang. Currently, Tesla’s Phase 2 factory in Shanghai has become the most efficient and highest-quality factory globally, with a localization rate of over 95% for components.

In addition to the vehicle manufacturing plant, Song Gang has also been involved in the construction and establishment of Tesla’s battery and motor teams. Currently, Tesla has built the world’s largest battery pack factory in Shanghai and completed the localization of car motor production.

Among the early participants in establishing the Shanghai factory, besides Tom Zhu and Song Gang, another key figure is Zhu Renjie, former head of Phase II workshop at the Shanghai factory. Due to his excellent automotive manufacturing management skills, he was reassigned to oversee Cybertruck mass production at Tesla’s Texas factory in early 2023 but did not manage to create a miracle this time. Zhu Renjie announced his resignation during Tesla’s global layoffs in April this year. According to our exclusive information, he declined another appointment offered by Tom Zhu and chose to join a Chinese startup company instead.

In 2021, Tesla delivered a total of 936,000 new cars throughout the year, with the Shanghai factory accounting for 51.7% of them. On October 11th this year, Tesla’s Shanghai factory rolled off its 3 millionth vehicle. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), from January to November this year, exports from Tesla’s Shanghai factory accounted for approximately 30.2% of its production during the same period.

The automotive industry and capital markets had hoped that Tesla would establish its third factory in Shanghai to manufacture the next generation of low-cost Tesla vehicles. However, these plans have never materialized due to internal management chaos at Tesla and external factors.

Next, the two “new cars” that the Shanghai factory will produce are both Model Ys. One is a redesigned version of the Model Y that will begin mass production next month. It is similar to a refreshed version of the Model 3 with changes to its interior and exterior design, battery capacity, motor performance, and autonomous driving features. The other model is a 6-seater version of the Model Y expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025.

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