Tesla Brings Chrysler Vet on Board to Lead Engineering and Manufacturing
08 July 2008
Tesla Motors has brought Mike Donoughe onboard as Executive Vice President, Vehicle Engineering and Manufacturing. In this role, he will be responsible for manufacturing, supply chain, quality and operations for the company and will oversee both the Roadster Program and the Model S program—the upcoming 4-door, 5-passenger electric sports sedan.
Donoughe was previously Vice President of Project D at Chrysler, where he led the redesign of their global mid-size vehicle portfolio. He spent 24 years at Chrysler, where he led various product creation efforts, including the Stow N Go minivans, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Ram programs. He also spent 3 years with Mercedes Benz in Stuttgart as Director of passenger car development, M and R Class.
Mike is a very valuable addition to our leadership team. His track record, expertise and leadership will help Tesla as we prepare for significant growth. Mike’s immediate priorities are to ensure that production of the Tesla Roadster runs smoothly and efficiently and to drive the continued development of our next car, the Model S, a 4 door, 5 passenger sports sedan.
—Ze’ev Drori, Tesla CEO
Great to see Tesla stealing talent from the big automakers rather than one of the automakers buying out Tesla and smothering it.
Hopefully we'll see a lot more talent drain in that direction.
Posted by: danm | 08 July 2008 at 12:26 PM
Tesla....smart - very smart.
Posted by: ejj | 08 July 2008 at 05:30 PM
what an excellent job that would be. Building the future.
Posted by: Sulleny | 08 July 2008 at 07:19 PM
How many Roadsters have "Tesla" delivered now? Martin Eberhard was supposed to get car No 2 and said he would review it on his blog when he received it - that was months ago and no sign of the review yet. Has only 1 car still been delivered, to Mr Musk?
Posted by: Emphyrio | 10 July 2008 at 05:30 AM
Unless they can start delivering, they will lose credibility. They made some bold claims years ago and now it is time to deliver on those claims or lose any standing in the future game.
Posted by: sjc | 10 July 2008 at 09:40 PM