Tesla dismisses entire team responsible for U.S. expansion formed only 4 months ago.

Tesla has made significant layoffs, including the elimination of its recently formed marketing team, as part of companywide job cuts. This move marks a reversal of CEO Elon Musk’s previous commitment to traditional advertising, which was greenlighted less than a year ago. The layoffs affected the entire US “growth content” team, consisting of approximately 40 employees overseen by senior manager Alex Ingram.

Both Ingram and Jorge Milburn, who led the global team, were dismissed. The company still retains a small marketing staff in Europe. Musk publicly criticized the work of the content team, stating that the ads were too generic and could have been for any car.

This action represents a pullback from Tesla’s previous avoidance of traditional advertising mediums such as television, radio, print, and online ads. Musk’s decision to explore advertising came in response to calls from investors to focus more on marketing, given the slowdown in global EV sales growth and increased competition in the market. Ingram had started building the growth team approximately four months ago, reflecting the company’s effort to expand its marketing initiatives.

Additionally, Tesla’s embrace of advertising coincided with Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, as the company sought to counter a decline in ad revenue and address concerns over content moderation and controversial posts. The layoffs reflect the widespread impact of Tesla’s large-scale job cuts, affecting over 10% of the global workforce. There are reports suggesting that Musk is pushing for a 20% reduction, potentially eliminating over 20,000 jobs.

This news has had a negative impact on Tesla’s stock performance, with shares falling 3% in New York. The stock has seen a significant decrease of over 40% this year and is currently the second-worst performer in the S&P 500 Index.