Tesla Motors, looking to bring the likes of Jay Leno a sleek, sexy and very expensive all-electric sports car, will plug in a new CEO.
The San Carlos, Calif.-based company said late Wednesday that Ze'ev Drori will be the person charged with driving the company forward and its cars into production and onto the open road.
Tesla has been on a hunt for a new head honcho since the company's former CEO and co-founder, Martin Eberhard, stepped down in August.
Michael Marks, a former Flextronics CEO, had been Tesla's interim go-to guy. Drori will take over the driver's seat on Monday.
Drori's experience includes CEO and founder of Monolithic Memories, a Silicon Valley semiconductor firm acquired by AMD in 1987.
He then bought a controlling interest in auto-security company Clifford Electronics, where he also was CEO. In 1999, Ze'ev sold Clifford Electronics to Allstate Insurance.
In his new role, Drori will look to bring the long-awaited Tesla Roadster to market. To customers' dismay, Tesla in September pushed back the delivery of its two-seater sports car, which goes 0 to 60 mph in about four seconds.
The first production cars, which start at about $100,000, are expected to be delivered early next year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Drori also will have to decide what the company wants to do about its battery business. Tesla had planned to sell battery packs to Think Global, a Norwegian electric-car company, for additional revenue.
In late October, the deal appeared to be off (see Tesla Suspends Battery-Pack Business).