A former fashion executive has joined Tesla Motors Inc. as the company’s vice president of North American sales, a move signaling Chief Executive Elon Musk’s aim to gear up retail operations amid big growth plans.

Ganesh Srivats, formerly retail and strategy executive with Burberry Group PLC, joined the Silicon Valley electric-car marker as it works to launch an SUV and meet its 55,000-vehicle sales target for 2015. Mr. Srivats’s hiring was first reported by Bloomberg News. He joins a brand that primarily is considered to...