A Tesla store in Beijing Photo: IC

A key executive behind Tesla's business expansion in China, Robin Ren, appears to have left his position as Tesla's vice president of business development. 

Ren's personal LinkedIn profile showed that he held the position of Tesla's vice president of business development from May 2019 to June 2020. Prior to that, he was Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. 

Tesla said it had "no comment" when contacted by the Global Times on Thursday. 

According to overseas media reports, Ren helped secure the deal for Tesla to build its Gigafactory in Shanghai. Tesla CEO Elon Musk once commented that Ren, along with other members of Tesla's team in China, had been "sort of instrumental" in establishing the plant. 

Tesla sold more than 10,000 Model 3s in China in March, setting a monthly record and surprising the market, considering the pressure on China's vehicle industry from the coronavirus outbreak. 

But behind the impressive sales are Tesla's volatile operations and its aggressive strategy in China, which some experts said has been a double-edged sword. The China strategy buoyed its share price and attracted public attention but also increased potential quality risks for the US carmaker. 

A total of 3,635 Model 3 cars were sold in China in April. A veteran car industry observer told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that Tesla is in a rush to launch its Model Y cars in the Chinese market to form a product lineup.

"Sales of the Model Y won't be a problem with the 'new car aura', and its launch will give Tesla scope to cut the Model 3's price further, which will help boost its sales," he said. "A total sales increase will also allow Tesla to secure partnerships with more suppliers, reducing supply risks." 

According to the company's official website, Tesla plans to start making Model Ys for Europe and the Chinese mainland market at the beginning of 2021. 

But the expert said he had learned from some Tesla suppliers that the made-in-China Model Y's start of production will be around October, meaning that the cars may start rolling off the Shanghai Gigafactory production lines in November and be delivered in December. 

"Based on my observation, Elon Musk's general approach is to push his business in China in a fast way .I don't think that can be changed easily, even if some people suggest more natural growth," he said. 

He also said that the building of the Model 3 assembly lines in the first phase of the Gigafactory was too fast, by industry standards. But he believed that Tesla's business expansion in China will only accelerate.