Last year was terrible for Tesla. Bad financials. Multiple recalls. Abysmal safety record. Lawsuits. The Cybertruck disaster and cratering sales. All of it tied to design problems and lack of innovation. Add to that the dip in brand loyalty thanks to CEO Elon Musk’s toxic political activity, of course.
And now two of Tesla’s top designers have left the company, according to a report from Electrek. It’s no coincidence that one of Tesla’s biggest market supporters is now warning that the company may implode in 2025. The stars are aligning for a reckoning.
The departed are David Imai and Bernard Lee, two veteran designers instrumental in shaping Tesla’s vehicles, including the Model 3. Imai announced his exit to a boat design studio two weeks ago. This ends a nearly 14-year career at the car company, the last five years as director of design.
Perhaps even more troubling is Lee’s departure, because of his history at Tesla, including being a founding member of its design studio. The ex-Mazda designer came to Tesla in 2008, participating in every vehicle as lead or supporting designer since the Tesla Roadster (but apparently not the Cybertruck).
While two top designers leaving a company might not be a nail in the coffin, it’s impossible to separate the news from its context: namely that Tesla has been getting deeper and deeper into a design, sales, safety, and quality assurance crisis. (Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on this story.)
The cherry on a cake of pain
In recent years, Tesla has faced increasing scrutiny because of poor quality, poor design choices, and the poor personal choices of its founder. Until very recently, the Texas-based automaker has been able to ride out those storms by being the only game in town. But as the legacy manufacturers upped their electric vehicle game and stepped into the market, Tesla’s many faults have became more obvious.
Tesla’s sales growth has slowed in recent quarters, and the company is facing increasing competition from established automakers like Ford, GM, and Hyundai, all in the midst of rapidly expanding their EV offerings.
Perhaps even more significant is the increasing dominance of China, especially BYD, in the EV market. Chinese auto manufacturers have been putting out futuristic designs that consumers seem to love. As a result they are dominating Asia and aggressively moving into Europe and the rest of the world. BYD is now the biggest electric carmaker on the planet, beating Tesla.
Another concerning trend for Tesla is the radical erosion of brand loyalty among its customers, which was already suffering in 2023 and early 2024 because of the company’s quality problems.
The loss of two experienced designers with a deep knowledge of the company and its situation could further hinder Tesla’s ability to act in a time of crisis. It could be an opportunity for Tesla to radically change its tired design strategy, but doing so now, when the company is in dire need of a cheap, competitive model, seems suicidal. Tesla canceled plans for a cheaper car as it poured more time, money, and energy into the Cybertruck. After the latter’s disaster, now Musk is promising a cheap Tesla again.
The picture is bleak, and it’s hard to imagine how the company can get itself out of this perfect hurricane. It seems to me its only way forward is President Donald Trump’s Sharpie.
