Tesla reportedly loses another European vice president as it begins construction on Berlin factory

• Tesla's vice president of European operations has left the company, according to Bloomberg News and local media.
• Sascha Zahnd replaced his predecessor in 2019.
• The company is in the middle of constructing a factory near Berlin which will be its first in Europe.
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Tesla's vice president in charge of Europe has left the company, according to local reports confirmed by Bloomberg News, as it races to build its first factory on the continent.

Sascha Zahnd joined Tesla in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked as a vice president of global supply chain and eventually replaced Jan Oehmicke as head of European operations in July 2019. He previously worked for nine years at Ikea.

Neither Tesla nor Zahnd responded to requests for comment.

German publication Manager Magazin, which first reported his exit, said there were "disputes" between Zahnd and chief executive Elon Musk that eventually catalyzed the separation.

Tesla is in the midst constructing its third car factory near Berlin, which would be its first in Europe. The company has said the plant will create up to 12,000 jobs.

"We are absolutely continuing our Model Y capacity expansion at full speed at both Giga Berlin and Giga Shanghai," Musk said on a conference call with investors and analysts on April 29.

Germany's economic minister, Peter Altmaier, confirmed that pace on Monday saying he didn't expect any major delays to the new plant caused by the coronavirus pandemic that has hobbled production in California. Tesla filed a lawsuit there over the weekend against local officials which have forced it to remain closed because of the pandemic.