FRANKFURT — The pinnacle of the Berlin engine plant run by Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, Rene Reif, has defected to rival Tesla Inc., German union IG Metall mentioned, calling on staff to protest his departure.

IG Metall mentioned there can be a protest in entrance of the Mercedes manufacturing unit on Thursday and known as on Daimler to current options that may assist assure the way forward for the plant.

“We are going to clarify that we see the defection of the manufacturing unit supervisor as a betrayal,” Jan Otto, head of IG Metall Berlin, mentioned in a press release.

The German enterprise paper Handelsblatt mentioned business sources had additionally confirmed that Reif, 57, would be part of Tesla.

Reif was one probably the most skilled manufacturing executives at Daimler. He helped to broaden manufacturing capability for Mercedes automobiles in China.

He was head of engineering and manufacturing at Beijing Benz Automotive, Daimler’s Chinese language three way partnership, which has a capability of 480,000 automobiles and began constructing the electrical Mercedes EQC final yr.

Tesla declined to touch upon whether or not it had discovered a brand new supervisor for the manufacturing unit it’s constructing in Gruenheide on the outskirts of Berlin.

Final month, a supply informed Reuters that Evan Horetsky, a Tesla supervisor who oversaw the development of the plant, had left his position.

Tesla’s Berlin manufacturing unit is scheduled to open subsequent July to start out constructing the Mannequin Y electrical crossover for the European market with an preliminary capability of 150,000 items.

Daimler mentioned on Wednesday that Reif would go into early retirement on the finish of the yr at his personal request.

German unions have lamented the truth that conventional automakers are throttling again funding into combustion engine applied sciences as regulators clamp down on emissions and as demand for autos is hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daimler mentioned Clemenz Dobrawa, who at the moment heads the Mercedes battery manufacturing plant in Kamenz, Germany, had taken over management of the Mercedes crops in Hamburg and Berlin earlier this month.

“Because of his exercise as consultant in Kamenz, he brings necessary know-how for the transformation towards electromobility,” Daimler mentioned.

The Berlin plant can be restructured to serve an ‘Electrical First’ technique, Daimler mentioned.