Tesla lost two core executives overnight. The heads of Model Y and Model 3 both left. Thirteen senior executives have left the company this year.

Elon Musk has seen 13 executives leave within the year! The project managers of Model Y and Model 3 have both left.

According to a report by CheDongXi on November 11th, multiple foreign media outlets recently reported that Siddhant Awasthi, the former head of Tesla's Cybertruck and Model 3 projects, and Emmanuel Lamacchia, the project manager of Model Y, announced their departure from Tesla on the same day, ending their eight - year careers at the company. Neither executive revealed their next move.

The departure of these two executives highlights the severe brain - drain problem that Tesla is facing.

This year, several core executives, including former software vice - president David Lau, hardware engineering vice - president Pete Bannon, and Omead Afshar, a close associate of Elon Musk and former senior director of North American and European sales and manufacturing operations, have left the company one after another.

According to incomplete statistics by CheDongXi, as of now, a total of 13 core executives have left Tesla this year, covering departments such as hardware, software, human resources, and sales.

List of some Tesla executives who left the company this year

The wave of executive departures reflects the increasing challenges Tesla is facing. Its financial situation and new car delivery performance are not optimistic.

According to Tesla's third - quarter earnings report, its total revenue in the third quarter reached a record high, amounting to $28.095 billion (approximately RMB 200.219 billion). However, its profit has declined for four consecutive quarters. The GAAP net profit in the third quarter was $1.373 billion (approximately RMB 9.785 billion), a year - on - year decrease of 37%.

In terms of new car deliveries, Tesla delivered 497,000 vehicles globally in the third quarter, setting a new record. Most of these deliveries were driven by Model 3 and Model Y. The delivery volume of other models (including Cybertruck) was only 15,933, a year - on - year decrease of 30%.

Tesla still faces significant pressure at present.

01. Losing two core executives on the same day: the heads of Model 3 and Model Y have both left

Siddhant Awasthi, the former head of Tesla's Cybertruck and Model 3 projects, announced his departure after eight years of service at the company.

Siddhant Awasthi, the former head of Cybertruck and Model 3 projects

He initially joined Tesla as an intern and was promoted step by step. He led the promotion of Model 3, the construction of the Shanghai Gigafactory, and the Cybertruck project.

A photo of Awasthi with Sammy Macaluso, a Cybertruck project and software integration engineer, and Wes Morrill, the chief engineer

His departure comes at a time when the demand for electric pickups is cooling down and the sales of Cybertruck are lower than expected.

According to relevant data, Tesla sold only 5,385 Cybertrucks in the third quarter of 2025, compared with over 14,000 in the same period in 2024, a year - on - year decrease of 63%. The cumulative sales of Cybertruck in the first three quarters of this year were 16,097, a year - on - year decrease of 38%.

In a social media tweet, Awasthi called leaving Tesla "the toughest decision of my life." He wrote, "This decision was not easy, especially when the company is on the verge of exciting growth."

Siddhant Awasthi's statement on the social platform

He also thanked Elon Musk and the team for turning their wild ideas into real products.

Despite his decision to leave, Awasthi publicly expressed his confidence in his former employer. "I'm confident that Tesla will successfully achieve its next major mission (especially after last week)," he said, and pointed out that the innovation brought by Tesla has not received due recognition.

On the same day, Emmanuel Lamacchia, the project manager of Model Y, also announced on LinkedIn that he was leaving the company after eight years of service.

Due to the increasingly fierce market competition, the list of senior leadership departures at Tesla continues to grow.

02. Revenue increases but profit doesn't in the third quarter; monthly sales in China hit a three - year low

Recently, Tesla's third - quarter earnings report has revealed the severe reality it is facing. The financial data in the third quarter shows an obvious characteristic of "increasing revenue but not increasing profit."

Tesla's total revenue in the third quarter was $28.095 billion (approximately RMB 200.2 billion), a 12% increase from $25.182 billion (approximately RMB 179.46 billion) in the same period last year.

Tesla's financial performance in the third quarter of 2025

Although the company's revenue in the third quarter reached a record high, Tesla's profitability indicators continued to deteriorate. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of profit decline for Tesla.

Its adjusted net profit in the third quarter was $1.77 billion (approximately RMB 12.614 billion), a year - on - year decrease of 29%. The operating profit margin dropped to 5.8%. The same trend is also reflected in Tesla's gross profit margin of 18.0%, which decreased by 1.8 percentage points year - on - year but increased by 0.8 percentage points quarter - on - quarter.

Tesla's financial performance over the years

Specifically in the automotive business, Tesla's total automotive revenue in the third quarter was $21.205 billion (approximately RMB 151.117 billion), a year - on - year increase of 6%.

In terms of new car deliveries, Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles globally in the third quarter, a year - on - year increase of 7% and a quarter - on - quarter increase of 29%, setting a new record.

Tesla's automotive sales data in the third quarter of 2025

This growth was mainly driven by the Model 3/Y series, with a delivery volume of 481,166, a year - on - year increase of 9%. However, the delivery volume of other models (including Cybertruck) was only 15,933, a year - on - year decrease of 30%.

The Chinese market is Tesla's largest single market globally, and Tesla's delivery volume has also decreased.

According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla's wholesale sales in China in that month were 61,500, a year - on - year decrease of 9.93%. The wholesale volumes of Model Y and Model 3 decreased by 8.76% and 11.84% respectively.

Wholesale sales of new energy passenger cars in October 2025

Tesla's retail sales in China that month dropped to 26,000, a sharp quarter - on - quarter decrease of 63.64% and a year - on - year decrease of 35.76%, the lowest level since November 2022.

03. Conclusion: Tesla faces both opportunities and challenges

A series of information shows that Tesla is currently facing significant challenges: continuous decline in car sales in multiple countries, affected profitability, and an intensifying wave of executive departures...

However, it cannot be denied that Tesla also faces many opportunities. At last week's shareholders' meeting, CEO Elon Musk's $1 trillion (approximately RMB 7 trillion) compensation plan was approved. This means that for a long time to come, Musk will be deeply "bound" to Tesla. He can only receive the corresponding compensation rewards by leading Tesla to achieve specific performance goals.

Meanwhile, according to a series of goals set by Musk at the shareholders' meeting, Tesla is accelerating its progress in both the smart car and embodied intelligence fields.

Tesla remains one of the most influential technology companies in the world.

This article is from the WeChat official account "CheDongXi". Author: Guo Yue, Editor: Zhi Hao. Republished by 36Kr with permission.