Tesla’s Cybertruck lead is leaving the company after 8 years

• Tesla’s Cybertruck lead is departing the company.
• Siddhant Awasthi thanked Elon Musk in a farewell post, referencing the billionaire’s $1 trillion pay package.
• Awasthi is the latest Tesla exec to leave this year, and his exit comes as Cybertruck sales struggle.

The Tesla executive in charge of Elon Musk’s “apocalypse-proof” pickup truck is leaving the company.

Siddhant Awasthi, Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model 3 program lead, said in a Monday post on X that he was exiting the EV maker after eight years.

Awasthi, who started at Tesla as an intern and helped launch the stainless steel-clad truck in 2023, didn’t give a reason for his departure.

The ex-Tesla executive thanked Musk in his goodbye post and appeared to reference the approval of the billionaire’s $1 trillion pay package at the company’s annual shareholder meeting last week.

“I’m confident Tesla will nail its next big mission (especially after last week), and I’m truly excited for the next chapter of my life,” Awasthi.

Awasthi — who, according to his LinkedIn profile, also took over Tesla’s Model 3 program in July — is the latest executive to depart Tesla this year.

Milan Kovac, who led Tesla’s Optimus program, announced his departure from the company in June, while top Musk lieutenant Omead Afshar was reportedly fired several weeks later.

Vice president and head of North America sales, Troy Jones, also left in the summer, and Tesla’s director of battery technology, Vineet Mehta, announced he would step down in April. Peter Bannon, the head of Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer, left in August after Musk shut down the project.

Awasthi’s departure comes as Cybertruck sales continue to struggle. Tesla sold just 16,000 pickups in the first three quarters of the year, according to data from Cox Automotive.

That’s a long way from the 250,000 target Musk suggested Cybertruck production could eventually reach.

The trapezoid electric truck has also faced 10 recalls in two years. The most recent saw Tesla issue recalls for around 6,200 Cybertrucks over concerns the optional light bar may fly off because the wrong glue was used to secure it.