What Happened: Zhu, rumored to be the chosen successor of Elon Musk at Tesla, will now take a broader role in the company’s North American operations, reported Electrek. 

Zhu’s title will remain vice president in charge of Asia-Pacific but he has also been assigned responsibilities for the company’s North American sales, service, and delivery organization chart, reported Electrek, citing people familiar with the matter.

Troy Jones, the vice president of North America sales and service, will now report directly to Zhu. Formerly, he reported directly to Musk, as per Electrek. 

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

Why It Matters: Zhu was hired to develop the Supercharger network in China and the Gigafactory Shanghai was built under his leadership.

Zhu’s reportedly enhanced role in North America comes at a time when Tesla is slated to benefit from new federal tax credits for electric vehicles in the United States. 

Rumors of Zhu as a successor to Musk picked up steam in early December. Tesla’s stock was pummeled in 2022, losing 65%, marking its worst year ever.

Analysts pointed to Musk’s preoccupation with Twitter as one of the factors which led to the erosion in Tesla’s stock price last year.