Indian-origin Taneja Tesla's finance chief

Indian-origin Vaibhav Taneja has been appointed as Tesla's finance chief, replacing CFO Zachary Kirkhorn who quit after four years.

Taneja, 45, joined Tesla in 2016 after the automaker acquired SolarCity, where he held positions in finance and accounting. Taneja takes on the role, or the so-called "Master of Coin" position, in addition to his job as chief accounting officer, the electric car giant said. Taneja has worked at PwC in India and the US between 1999 and 2016.

The Elon Musk-led firm did not specify a reason for Kirkhorn's departure, who has been with Tesla for 13 years. He will remain with the company through the end of the year to help a smooth transition. Kirkhorn was also being considered a possible successor to Musk earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal had reported amid growing investor concern about the lack of a succession plan. During his tenure, Tesla posted its first quarterly profit after it launched the mass-market Model 3 compact sedan and hit a market valuation of more than $1 trillion.

Kirkhorn's appointment in 2019 and his predecessor Deepak Ahuja's exit were disclosed by Musk in a surprise move towards the end of a conference call with analysts to discuss the company's quarterly results.

"Being a part of this company is a special experience and I'm extremely proud of the work we've done together since I joined over 13 years ago," Kirkhorn said.

Kirkhorn did not immediately respond to queries. "That he's going to be around until the end of the year is evidence that this is just for personal reasons and that reason is likely that working with Elon Musk is really hard and he's done it for 13 years," said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.

The Austin, Texas-based automaker this year cut prices of its cars in a move that prioritised sales growth and market share and squeezed its industry-leading margins.

Tesla has also hinted at more price cuts in what Musk called "turbulent times" as rising borrowing costs take a toll on the sales of electric-vehicle makers.

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