(Image source from: teslarati.com)
Tesla’s founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk on Wednesday announced that the company’s Indian origin Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Deepak Ahuja will be retiring.
The announcement came after Tesla reported $139 million profit for the fourth quarter of 2018, generating a record $7.2 billion in revenue.
In an earnings call with analysts, Musk said that Ahuja's retirement "won't be immediate" and that "he will continue to serve as a senior adviser to the company".
Zach Kirkhorn, the company's current Vice President of Finance, will replace Ahuja.
Following the announcement, Tesla stocks fell about 5 percent in after-hours trading.
"There is no good time to make this change. It's a new chapter, a new year. Tesla has had two great quarters of profitability and cash flow, it's on a really solid foundation," Ahuja told analysts.
This is the second time Ahuja quit Tesla, the first time was in 2016 and he rejoined in 2017.
Tesla's Chief Accounting Officer has also left the company after less than a month.
Tesla, earlier in the day, reported revenue for the full year at $21.4 billion - another record for the electric car maker likewise riding on the success of its Model 3 car.
Model 3 was the best-selling premium vehicle, including SUVs, in the United States for 2018, with about 140,000 units sold. It was the first time in decades an American carmaker has been able to secure the top position.
"In 2019, full-year Model 3 volumes will grow substantially over 2018 due to a full year of high production rates at our Fremont facility," said Tesla in a statement.
"In Q4, we delivered 63,359 Model 3 vehicles to customers in North America. In January 2019, we started to produce Model 3 vehicles for Europe and China, and the car is now fully certified for sale in these markets," the company added.
In January, Tesla started building of Gigafactory Shanghai.
"Local manufacturing is an essential component of our ability to provide to customers in the region a truly affordable version of Model 3," said Tesla.
-Sowmya Sangam
