On May 8th, when Elon Musk suddenly visited Beijing in April, he was not alone. He was accompanied by a trusted assistant, Zhu Xiaotong, the former head of Tesla China, known internally as the "Fire Chief."
According to sources, Zhu Xiaotong is now one of the three core executives listed on Tesla's official website, standing shoulder to shoulder with Musk. He is being transferred back to China from Tesla's Texas headquarters at a critical and fragile time for the company.
Zhu Xiaotong, born in China, received education in the United States and New Zealand. He was promoted to Tesla's global leadership team in Austin last year, where he took on some of the CEO's responsibilities, allowing Musk to focus on other important matters.
Under Zhu Xiaotong's leadership, Tesla's Shanghai factory has become one of the company's most outstanding facilities. Many employees internally refer to Zhu Xiaotong as the "Fire Chief" due to his exceptional problem-solving abilities and his capacity to achieve higher goals.
Zhu Xiaotong's transfer comes as Tesla strives to turn around its business challenges in China, the world's largest electric vehicle market. Musk is seeking to revitalize Tesla's global growth, with China undoubtedly playing a crucial role in this revival.
In the Chinese market, numerous car manufacturers, including Tesla's competitor BYD, are vying for market share in electric vehicles. Despite a 15% year-on-year increase in total electric vehicle sales in China in the first quarter of this year, Tesla's sales have declined by 4%.
Since joining Tesla in 2014, Zhu Xiaotong was promoted to head of the China business after just nine months. He maintains good communication with the Chinese government, accelerating the construction of Tesla's Shanghai factory.
Tesla China employees describe Zhu Xiaotong as a dedicated workaholic, praising his ability to provide quick feedback. In early 2022, during the COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, Zhu Xiaotong chose to stand alongside Tesla's workers and suppliers, sleeping in the factory together to ensure the continuous operation of the production line.
Zhu Xiaotong has also been involved in several key projects, including the development of the Cybertruck. He has helped increase production capacity at Tesla's factories in Austin and Fremont, California, and optimized production processes.
Just last month, Zhu Xiaotong accompanied Musk in meeting with Chinese government officials. During this meeting, they successfully launched the "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) software feature in China, gaining government support.
Tesla is set to establish a new partnership with Baidu, collaborating to deploy FSD features based on Baidu Maps and navigation. Musk is working to expand the application of this technology, hoping it will be a key driver of Tesla's growth.
Tesla is also working on discussions with the Chinese government regarding transferring data collected by Tesla vehicles in China to the United States. They are striving to convince the government that this data transfer will not threaten China's national security.
However, Tesla's struggles in the Chinese market have left investors concerned. Many Chinese car companies have offered similar but lower-cost autonomous driving features and launched various models, capturing Tesla's market share through significant price reductions. Meanwhile, Tesla's product line still heavily relies on two older models - the domestically produced Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla is undergoing layoffs of over 10% globally. In recent weeks, the company has lost several executives, including powertrain and energy engineering head Drew Baglino, and policy and business development lead Rohan Patel. Additionally, Tesla has nearly disbanded the entire supercharging station team.
According to insiders and laid-off employees, Tesla has already dismissed some marketing and sales team members, production workers, interns, and recent graduates in China, who were originally planning to join the company this summer.
