Tesla hires Burberry executive to extend luxury reach

CHINA-AUTO-SHOW
A Tesla Model S P85d car is displayed at the 16th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai on April 20, 2015.
Photograph by Johannes Eisele — AFP/Getty Images

Tesla Motors has hired a former executive at British luxury maker Burberry to help the electric car manufacturer extend its reach within the luxury market.

Ganesh Srivats will serve as vice president for North American sales, a position that Tesla (TSLA) confirmed to Bloomberg.

Srivats first joined Burberry as a business development manager in late 2004 and worked in that role for a little over two years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He left the company for a few years between 2007 and 2009 before rejoining in various strategy and retail executive roles in the Americas. His LinkedIn profile shows he has worked at Tesla since May.

It isn’t the first time synergy between tech-based companies and the British luxury brand has occurred in the hiring of top executives. Apple (AAPL) generated headlines when it hired former Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts to oversee the gadgets maker’s retail operations. That hire came with a hefty compensation package valued at $73.4 million.

Tesla, meanwhile, has fared well in the luxury car market. Though total revenue jumped sharply to $3.2 billion last year from $2 billion in 2013, it still is a minnow in the global auto industry.