Tesla dismisses entire US growth team established only 4 months prior.

Tesla has recently laid off a newly formed marketing team in a move that contradicts CEO Elon Musk’s previous support for traditional advertising. The team, which comprised about 40 employees overseen by senior manager Alex Ingram, was cut as part of the company’s broader job reduction efforts. The team’s leader, Jorge Milburn, was also dismissed.

Although the company still retains a small marketing staff in Europe, the US “growth content” team has been entirely eliminated. This decision marks a departure from Tesla’s historical approach of relying on word-of-mouth and eschewing traditional advertising channels like television, radio, and print. The shift in strategy came after Musk’s announcement last year that Tesla would dip its toes into advertising.

However, Musk recently criticized the content team’s work, describing their ads as “far too generic,” indicating a change in direction for the company’s marketing efforts. The reorganization of Tesla’s growth team is emblematic of the significant job cuts that Musk announced would affect over 10% of the global workforce. Reports suggest that Musk is pushing for a 20% reduction, potentially affecting more than 20,000 jobs.

The company’s shares have fallen by 3% following this news and have experienced a staggering 40% decline over the course of the year. In addition to this internal reorganization, Tesla’s foray into advertising coincided with Musk’s acquisition of a social media platform, which was aimed at addressing a decline in ad revenue and content moderation issues. As the electric vehicle market becomes more competitive and sales growth slows, investors are urging Musk to focus more on marketing to maintain Tesla’s competitive edge.