Tesla Canada Gets a New Country Manager After a Year Without One

Tesla has a country manager for Canada again — nearly a year after the departure of Fereshteh Zeineddin, who held the role for more than nine years. Michelle Veenhuizen has been promoted to Country Manager for Canada, Sales & Delivery, taking responsibility for Tesla's sales and delivery operations across the country, according to the company's internal announcement first reported on August 24.

Veenhuizen announced the promotion on LinkedIn, writing that she was "incredibly grateful for the trust, support, and opportunities that have brought me to this milestone" and looking forward to "leading an exceptional team, driving innovation, and continuing Tesla's mission to build a world of amazing abundance."

A two-year rise from regional sales

Veenhuizen joined Tesla in November 2024 as Regional Sales Manager for Central Canada, based in Ontario, and spent roughly a year and a half in the role before the promotion last month. Before Tesla, she spent nearly six years with Australian fashion retailer Forever New Clothing, rising to Head of Retail – Canada — a background built on storefront retail operations rather than automotive, in keeping with Tesla's store-first sales model.

The transition was a friendly one: Zeineddin was among the first to congratulate her successor publicly, writing "Super proud of you and can't wait to see the impact of your leadership across the country."

Why the gap mattered

A year without a country-level sales leader is unusual for a market of Canada's size, and it coincided with a turbulent stretch: Model Y wait times stretching toward 2027, Cybertruck trade-in complications, and a Canadian EV market adjusting to the end of the federal sales mandate. A permanent country manager typically means clearer accountability for delivery logistics, service capacity, and the provincial-level programs — like Quebec and BC rebates — that depend on steady dealer-side execution.

For Canadian buyers, the practical takeaway is modest but real: someone now owns the sales-and-delivery experience end to end. That matters most during quarter-end delivery pushes and for resolution of order issues that previously had no obvious escalation point.

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