Tesla executive who led Cybertruck manufacturing leaves carmaker

• Renjie Zhu, director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla's Austin Gigafactory, said he left the company.

• The executive came to the US to help launch Tesla's Cybertruck.

• Zhu's departure follows a series of layoffs and executive exits at Tesla.

The director who helped launch Tesla's latest project is leaving the company.

Renjie Zhu, the director of manufacturing engineering at Tesla's Austin Gigafactory, announced he'd left the company on Sunday.

The executive wrote on LinkedIn that "after triumphing the epic launch of Cybertruck program," his "adventure with this great company has come to an end."

It's unclear whether Zhu was part of a recent series of layoffs at Tesla or resigned on his own. At least seven executives at Tesla have departed over the past month. Last week, Tesla's former head of product launches said he'd chosen to leave because the recent layoffs had damaged morale and thrown the company "out of balance."

In his announcement, Zhu struck a more cheery note.

"Every single day in the past 5 years we brought the world a little closer to the transition to sustainable energy, not just with our incredible products Model 3/Model Y/Cybertruck, but the innovative ways in which we built those high volume production lines with an unprecedentedly high efficiency and delivered the products to our customers with impeccable quality," he wrote, adding that he's ready to "start a new journey."

Zhu worked at Tesla for more than five years and came over from the company's Shanghai site in January 2023 to launch the Cybertruck program, according to his LinkedIn profile. Tesla began deliveries for the electric pickup truck in November after several years of delays.

The executive and a spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kickstarted a series of layoffs on April 15 when he told staff he planned to cut more than 10% of the company's workforce. Tesla workers are currently facing their fifth straight week of layoff notices.

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