Musk reportedly fires Tesla head of operations Omead Afshar

(KRON) — Elon Musk has reportedly fired one of his most longstanding top lieutenants at Tesla. According to a report in Forbes, Musk has ousted Omead Afshar, Tesla’s head of operations in North American and Europe amid ongoing declining sales for the EV maker.

Afshar, who first joined Tesla in 2011, began overseeing sales and manufacturing for Europe and North America in October of last year. Sales and demand across those two regions have seen a significant drop, in part due to the backlash against Tesla CEO Musk’s political activities.

In a 2024 profile, the Wall Street Journal referred to Afshar as “Musk’s Fixer.” His departure from Tesla represents the biggest indication so far that a shakeup is underway at the EV maker.

Tesla sales have declined in the aftermath of Musk’s financial backing of the Trump campaign and his close association with the administration through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). While Musk has since departed Washington, Tesla sales in the U.S., Europe and China are still down.

Demand for the Tesla Cybertruck has apparently slowed to such a degree that Tesla reportedly plans to pause production of the vehicle over the week of July 4.