{"id":183144,"date":"2026-02-27T16:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/183144\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:36:11","slug":"tesla-executive-exodus-continues-with-cybercab-boss-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/183144\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla executive exodus continues with Cybercab boss departure"},"content":{"rendered":"

A leader key to the development of Tesla Inc.\u2019s Cybercab is leaving the company just weeks ahead of the scheduled start of production<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victor Nechita, vehicle program manager for the product CEO Elon Musk has said is a key to the company\u2019s future, is departing after almost six years at the Austin\u00a0automaker. His exit comes with Tesla working toward an April deadline to begin producing the purpose-built robotaxi<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLeading the team through the development of Cybercab has been a humbling experience, watching so many dedicated individuals develop a product that has pushed the boundaries of efficiency, safety, and affordability,\u201d Nechita said in a LinkedIn post<\/a>. He added gratitude for \u201cthe leaders who trusted me with these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Tesla, a vehicle program manager\u2019s duties can include defining vehicle specifications, developing product business cases, communicating program direction and negotiating program schedules, according to a job description for the role on its Semi vehicle.<\/p>\n

The company did not respond to a request for comment on\u00a0Nechita\u2019s exit. But his\u00a0departure follows that of a fellow vehicle program manager\u00a0\u2014 Model\u00a0Y leader Emmanuel Lamacchia\u00a0\u2014 along with several other executives and company veterans who bowed out in recent months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other high-profile exits last year included David Lau, vice president of software engineering; Siddhant Awasthi, program manager for\u00a0Cybertruck and Model 3; and Jenna Ferrua, North American director of human resources. The list continues with head of battery architecture\u00a0Vineet Mehta and Milan Kovac, who was vice president of the Optimus humanoid robotics program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Omead Afshar oversaw Tesla\u2019s manufacturing and operations in North America and Europe until he was fired last summer by Musk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently, Tesla uses Model Ys for a relatively small, human-monitored robotaxi fleet that has been involved in 14 crashes in Austin<\/a> since starting operations in June.\u00a0Cybercab could soon be part of the mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Late last week, Cybercabs were seen on the test track at Gigafactory Texas, including one with a human in the front passenger seat and no rearview mirrors. It was unclear if the prototypes had steering wheels or control pedals, though Musk says the cars will be fully autonomous, built with no controls. Another company official has said it could be built with driver controls as Tesla\u2019s entry-level EV.<\/p>\n

Nechita didn\u2019t specify where he was headed, but said he plans to \u201cstart a new chapter on the east coast.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A leader key to the development of Tesla Inc.\u2019s Cybercab is leaving the company just weeks ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,5454],"class_list":{"0":"post-183144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-saen_share"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}