Breaking: Tesla marketing boss Michael van der Sande resigns
Tesla Motors spokeswoman Rachel Konrad has just confirmed a rumor that popped up on the Tesla Motors Club forum that Michael van der Sande has resigned. van der Sande was senior vice president for marketing and succeeded Darryl Siry in that job last December.Prior to his work for Tesla, van der Sande was an international marketing executive at Harley-Davidson. According to Konrad, van der Sande is leaving for personal reasons and she declined any further comment on the matter.Tesla hired van der Sande in part because of his international experience as the company was attempting to expand its customer base beyond the U.S. The company recently opened its store outside the U.S. in London. Until recently, all indications were that net sales of the Roadster had stalled. While Tesla claims that it is selling more Roadsters, as of early July, the company was still reporting total sales of about 1,300, the same number it had in fall 2008. Konrad tells ABG:
"July was our best month in the past six months -- both for Roadster deliveries AND new Roadster sales. July also marked our first corporate net profitability month ever. "
Initial pre-orders for the five-door Model S have reportedly been brisk, with somewhere over
Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster
[Source: Tesla Motors Club]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark Kiernan 5:43PM (8/06/2009)
I am sure they will replace Michael with someone just as good.
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ZeitgeistXIII 11:09PM (8/06/2009)
Ducati just cut a huge group of people in the field and at corporate. Maybe Tesla could benefit from Ducati's loss. Jim Viola who was Marketing Director would be a good fit. Hes got BMW, Ducati and Porsche experience.
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OhmExcited 1:46AM (8/07/2009)
So,
-Musk initiates mass firing, including Eberhard.
-Musk hires new CEO.
-Siry says mass firings were due to poor performance on the part of the individuals.
-New CEO blogs about promotion of Siry.
-Siry eventually fired by Musk. Oops, correction, Siry resigned.
-New marketing director.
-Musk fires CEO, names himself new CEO.
-New marketing director eventually resigns.
What a C.F.
I'm sure I got part of the story incorrect. Please chime in.
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Nick P. 4:44AM (8/07/2009)
You forgot the only parts that matter:
- Tesla, under Musk, delivers Roadster cars 1 to 500 with 1,000 to go.
- Tesla, under Musk, gets adequate financing from Mercedes and US Gov.
- Tesla, under Musk, opens several stores in key North-American and European markets.
- Tesla, under Musk, starts producing the Model S - on track for 2011 delivery.
For investors and clients (people interested having them succeed), these are the only things that matter: results. The rest is noise, sideshows & jealous critics.
jim 7:59AM (8/07/2009)
As a disinterested observer of all thinks Tesla, it seems that their executive suite has more drama than an episode of Peyton Place.
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Throwback 9:48AM (8/07/2009)
My guess is Musk already has his exit strategy in place. He is a serial entrepreneur, he likes creating business not running them, nothing wrong with that very American. I would be surprised if Tesla is not sold before the model S comes out
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