Tesla reportedly fired Omead Afshar, its head of North American and European operations, in June following a massive drop in European EV deliveries. Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, was just promoted to the position in November. The Wall Street Journal described Afshar as one of Musk's closest confidants at the company.

"Musk is CEO -- the buck stops with him. As a CEO in a competitive environment, he's the one who has to have the vision and lead the troops," David Meier, a senior investment analyst at The Motley Fool, told ABC News. "But there's a lot going on in the world that impacts Tesla's business."

Musk said his automaker “probably could have a few rough quarters” ahead as federal electric vehicle credits expire soon.