Tesla Motors Chief Spokesman Ricardo Reyes has left the electric car company ahead of the unveiling of the Model 3 on March 31. Reyes has left after serving the EV firm for less than 18 months as vice president of global communications and strategic marketing. He first joined the EV firm in 2009 at a time when the Silicon Valley startup was preparing for its June 2010 IPO. In 2012, he left the company to lead brand marketing and communications for Square.
Communications job important for Tesla
The news that Reyes has left the company was confirmed by a Tesla spokesman. From November 2014 until recently, Reyes had the top communications job. This job is quite crucial to the electric car maker because unlike other automakers, Tesla does not spend millions of dollars on traditional advertising, says Bloomberg.
Instead of spending millions on traditional advertising, the EV firm depends on media coverage. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has 3.6 million Twitter followers and is quite popular for his tweets, is also responsible for the attention Tesla gets around the world. The electric car maker also relied on media coverage by courting automotive and technology press. Tesla in its most recent 10-K said that historically, it has been able to generate significant media coverage of its company and vehicles, and it believes it will continue to do so.
“To date, media coverage and word of mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs,” the report read.
Model 3: an important to car
Tesla is planning to unveil a prototype of the Model 3 all-electric sedan that will be smaller to the Model S and sell for roughly $35,000 before tax incentives. With the Model 3, which is anticipated to hit the market in late 2017, the electric car maker aspires to become a high-volume manufacturer.
For the Model 3 event, Tesla has invited journalists to its design studio in Hawthorne, Calif. on March 31. Musk will take the stage around 8:30 p.m. Pacific time for a presentation, which will be available live on the company’s website.
