According to Electrek, Tesla has recently hired two senior manufacturing executives. One of them is Michael Schmitt, who previously had over 25 years of engineering and manufacturing experience at Bosch. The other is Michael Hildebrand, who formerly served at the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
Insiders revealed that in the past few weeks, Schmitt has already begun working at Tesla's Austin factory. Last week, Schmitt also updated his LinkedIn profile to "Director of Operations at Tesla's Gigafactory," confirming the news. Schmitt was previously responsible for automotive component manufacturing operations in the Mexico region for Bosch. This management experience is likely beneficial for Tesla's Gigafactory project in Mexico. Additionally, Schmitt has served as the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for North America at Bosch, overseeing the "operations and R&D of automation and hydraulic systems in Canadian, American, and Mexican factories."
Hildebrand, with nearly 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, recently held the position of Executive Director of Projects at Eli Lilly. According to his latest LinkedIn profile, Tesla has hired him as the "Head of Expansion Engineering and Construction for the Nevada Gigafactory." Initially, Tesla's Nevada factory was projected to produce 105 GWh of battery cells and 150 GWh of battery packs annually. However, only about 30% of this has been realized, with Tesla not expanding the factory for several years. Last year, Tesla announced major expansions for the Nevada Gigafactory to increase production for the Tesla Semi truck and the 4680 battery, eventually scaling the factory up to its original planned size.
The joining of Schmitt and Hildebrand comes at a time when Tesla plans to achieve an ambitious target: raising annual production from 2 million to 20 million vehicles by 2030, ten times the current output. Last year, Tesla dispatched Tom Zhu, the executive responsible for its China operations, to the US to oversee all manufacturing and sales operations in North America. Tesla hopes Zhu can replicate the success of the Shanghai Gigafactory in North American manufacturing. Under Zhu's leadership, Tesla has already achieved some success in its Texas Gigafactory with a weekly output of 5,000 vehicles. However, to fully expand production capacity in North America, relying solely on Zhu might be insufficient, leading Tesla to continually seek to add more manufacturing management roles in the region.
With the addition of Schmitt and Hildebrand, we hope to see further progress in Tesla's North American business expansion.
