As Tesla sales fall, Elon Musk fires top manufacturing executive

What just happened? What is a CEO to do when a company’s sales continue to fall? If you’re Elon Musk, the answer is to fire your vice president of manufacturing and operations in North America and Europe. Omead Afshar was promoted to the role in 2024, having joined the company in 2017 and spending years working in “the office of the CEO.”

After Bloomberg reported that Afshar had left the EV giant, Forbes wrote that he had been fired by Musk. The billionaire had previously praised Afshar for leading construction of the Texas gigafactory.

Afshar’s X profile still links him to Tesla. His most recent posts, made a few days ago, are about the “historic” launch of the Tesla robotaxis.

In only a couple days of riding… https://t.co/bprXntmrdy

– Omead Afshar (@omead) June 24, 2025

Afshar was the subject of an internal probe in 2022 over allegations that he was involved in a plan to purchase a special kind of material for a Tesla’s secret Project 42, which called for a glass structure Musk wanted in the Austin, Texas, area.

Following the probe, Afshar had stints at SpaceX and reportedly at X before returning to Tesla. Musk gave him the VP role at the company in late 2024.

Tesla has struggled like never before in recent years. Selling fewer cars in 2024 than in 2023 marked its first annual fall in more than a decade. In Europe, sales have dropped for a fifth consecutive month; US sales are also down this year; and Tesla’s top market of China saw sales decline 15% in May.

Tesla’s year-to-date share price

Musk might be blaming the wrong person for Tesla’s failing fortunes. It’s no secret that his political actions and (former) closeness to Donald Trump impacted the company’s sales, especially in Europe. There have been several protests against the auto giant, including a Tesla dealership in Rome being set on fire on March 31, destroying 17 cars.

Musk’s brief, very public falling out with Trump earlier this month didn’t do his companies any favors. The president threatened to terminate Musk’s governmental subsidies and contracts, crashing Tesla’s share price by 14% and wiping around $152 billion off its valuation.

Earlier this month, Milan Kovac, who had been head of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot team, left the company. Bloomberg News also reported that Jenna Ferrua, Tesla’s director of HR for North America, is no longer with the firm either.

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