Tesla Motor Company Scoops Up Two New Execs

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Tesla has hired an Audi Sales Executive and You Tube's Communications Head in an effort to strengthen its position in the marketplace. Time will tell if the new hires prove fruitful.

From Automotive News:

A former Audi sales executive and YouTube's communications head are both joining Tesla Motors, the start-up California automaker said today.

John Walker, most recently Audi's general manager of sales operations, has become Tesla's vice president for North American sales, effective immediately, Tesla said today in a statement. Ricardo Reyes, global communications and public affairs head at Google's online video arm, will become Tesla's vice president for communications in mid-September.

Walker, 46, has also worked in Audi's sales operations in Australia and Canada. Before joining Audi, Walker worked for General Motors and BMW.

Reyes, 35, spent 10 years working in public policy and communications in Washington, D.C., before working for YouTube. His clients included automotive suppliers, and he spent three years as an adviser to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

Tesla is moving its headquarters from San Carlos, Calif., to nearby Palo Alto. Renovations at its new building will start in the fall. Both locations are in San Francisco's suburbs.

Tesla received a $465 million U.S. Department of Energy loan in June to renovate another building to use to build its Model S electric sedan. The company said it became profitable in July.

The start-up company said in January it is supplying battery packs and chargers to Daimler's electric Smart minicar, due for a U.S. launch in 2010.

Tesla also said Jon Sobel will join Tesla Motors as general counsel and board secretary, starting in late September.

Sobel, 45, is currently group president for media of SourceForge, an open source and social media company, Tesla said. Sobel also spent six years as a top executive at Internet search pioneer Yahoo, where he was senior vice president, general counsel, board secretary and a member of the company's executive committee, Tesla said.