Asia Tech Wire (Oct 17) -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has appointed one of his closest confidants to oversee operations in North America and Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company is facing tougher competition in the electric car space and cooling consumer demand in North America and Europe.

Omead Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, is now vice president for sales and manufacturing.

Afshar has assumed some of the responsibilities once held by Tesla's senior vice president Tom Zhu, and will report directly to Musk, the report said.

Upon completion of this realignment, senior executives responsible for Tesla's North American and European market operations will report to Afshar.