Tesla, once the unchallenged vanguard of the electric vehicle revolution, is now navigating rough terrain. At the center of its latest internal upheaval stands Elon Musk, who has reportedly fired Omead Afshar, Tesla’s vice president of manufacturing and operations, following a string of dismal sales reports and mounting political controversies that have weighed heavily on the company’s brand.

The firing, confirmed by CNBC, reflects not only Musk’s increasingly erratic leadership style but also the deeper structural challenges Tesla is facing in both domestic and global markets.

Afshar, a longtime Musk lieutenant, had reported directly to the CEO and oversaw a high-level team that included major players in Tesla’s sales and policy arms. Among them were Troy Jones, vice president of North American sales, Joe Ward, vice president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and Karen Steakley, a seasoned political operative who once worked under Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

This circle of influence had placed Afshar near the core of Tesla’s operations, a position that makes his dismissal all the more telling.

According to internal Tesla organizational charts reviewed by CNBC, Afshar was a crucial operational node within the company’s increasingly strained hierarchy. His removal, first reported by Forbes and later supported by Bloomberg’s reporting, comes amid a severe downturn in Tesla’s fortunes.

The automaker’s stock has dropped 19% year-to-date, vastly underperforming both the Nasdaq and its megacap technology peers. Meanwhile, its once unstoppable growth in Europe has not only stalled but reversed—new car sales fell for a fifth consecutive month in May, per figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Tesla’s loss of momentum isn’t merely a matter of competitive pressure. European consumers have begun shifting toward native EV brands and affordable Chinese alternatives, signaling a shift in loyalty that once seemed impossible. While Tesla once enjoyed the status of a trailblazer, today it finds itself grappling with shifting demand patterns and an eroding price premium.

Consumers are no longer dazzled by the Tesla badge—they are more interested in reliability, cost, and brand trust, areas where the automaker is beginning to falter.

Afshar’s termination also follows the quiet exit of another key executive, Milan Kovac, who had been overseeing Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robotics initiative. Kovac, in his departure announcement on X (formerly Twitter), cited a desire to spend more time with his family—a familiar refrain that often belies deeper organizational tensions.

Musk, for his part, publicly thanked Kovac, but the back-to-back departures hint at a broader leadership crisis within the company.

This leadership instability is only compounded by Musk’s increasingly controversial public persona. Over the past year, Musk has not only doubled down on partisan politics but has thrown his substantial fortune behind them. Reports indicate that he poured nearly $300 million into re-electing President Donald Trump and has actively supported efforts to gut federal agencies.

In Europe, Musk has courted outrage by endorsing Germany’s far-right AfD party, a move that alienates both investors and customers in one of Tesla’s most important markets.

The political backlash is real and measurable. Tesla has experienced reputational damage on multiple fronts, from social media controversies to high-profile lawsuits and safety recalls. More concerning is the potential long-term damage to consumer sentiment, especially in markets where climate and progressive policies dominate public discourse.

The association with far-right movements is toxic for a brand that built its identity on environmental stewardship and technological progressivism.

Afshar’s dismissal may also carry personal undertones. In 2022, he was the subject of an internal investigation at Tesla concerning orders of rare construction materials, including a specialized glass allegedly used in a clandestine Musk-directed project. Though he was moved to SpaceX in the wake of that probe, Afshar was later reinstated at Tesla and even promoted.

That arc—investigation, exile, redemption, and now termination—suggests a volatile internal culture where loyalty to Musk can simultaneously be a ladder and a trapdoor.

Strangely, despite his firing, Afshar’s public profile on X still lists him as a Tesla executive, and just days ago, he publicly praised Musk in a post celebrating the launch of Tesla’s pilot Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. “Thank you, Elon, for pushing us all,” he wrote—a final show of public loyalty that now reads as either deeply ironic or tragically misplaced.

Insiders have speculated that the firing could serve as a scapegoating maneuver—a way for Musk to deflect attention from his own missteps by placing blame on subordinates. While Afshar undoubtedly played a key role in operations, he was ultimately executing the broader vision and directives handed down by Musk himself.

That vision, lately, has veered from pioneering innovation toward ideological crusades and impulsive business pivots.

Tesla’s challenges are multiplying. In addition to declining sales and executive instability, the company is under pressure to deliver on promises tied to its much-hyped Robotaxi and Optimus humanoid programs. With rivals from both legacy automakers and new EV entrants ramping up, Tesla can no longer rely on novelty or brand cachet.

Its production targets, delivery estimates, and margin expectations are under a level of scrutiny unseen since the company’s formative years.

As of now, Tesla has not issued an official comment on Afshar’s firing. Requests for response from board members and executive leadership have gone unanswered. Investors, however, have taken notice. Analysts are beginning to question not just Tesla’s valuation, but its governance model, which remains heavily centralized around Musk.

The question many are now asking is whether the company’s greatest asset—its maverick CEO—is becoming its biggest liability.

With the global EV race accelerating and sentiment toward Tesla growing more uncertain, the firing of Omead Afshar may prove to be more than just a personnel change. It’s a signal of deeper turbulence within the company—a possible unraveling of the command structure that helped Tesla dominate the last decade of auto innovation.

Whether Musk’s grip tightens further or Tesla begins to decentralize and stabilize remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: in the Elon Musk era, no seat is ever truly secure.