Teresa Gutiérrez Smith, a former executive with Colombian company Rappi, has been appointed as CEO of Tesla México, which is building an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Nuevo León.
The Mexico City chapter of the Mexican Association of Women CEOs (AMMJE) announced Gutiérrez’s appointment on Tuesday.
“We’re sure that this appointment marks the beginning of a new era for Elon Musk’s company,” said Zaira Zepeda, president of AMMJE in Mexico City.
She said that Gutiérrez, who was formerly Rappi’s CEO in Mexico, is a leader committed to “excellence, diversity, female empowerment and the vision of a sustainable future for the benefit of all.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, announced in March 2023 that Tesla would build a new “gigafactory” near Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León. He said in October that construction of the initial phase of the plant would begin in early 2024.
Tesla’s investment in the plant could be as much as US $10 billion, according to the federal government.
On her LinkedIn profile, Gutiérrez says she aims “to contribute to Tesla’s mission of creating a greener Latin America.”
Musk said last month that Tesla would build its planned US $25,000 “next-gen” model at the Nuevo León plant, which will use recycled water.
Several reports said Gutiérrez is replacing Françoise Lavertu as Tesla’s CEO, or country manager, in Mexico, but, according to Lavertu’s LinkedIn profile, she hasn’t worked for the EV manufacturer for years.
The new Tesla México CEO has a degree in chemical engineering from the Ibero-American University in Mexico City and an MBA from IPADE, the business school of the Pan-American University.
Gutiérrez previously worked at several companies including toy company Mattel, as a media and digital marketing director, and food and drink multinational Nestlé as strategic planning manager.
Her replacement as CEO of Rappi in Mexico is Iván Cadavid Silva, a former senior vice president with the company.
With reports from El Universal
