Tesla has started to offer discounted financing on Cybertruck as the electric pickup truck undoubtedly turns out to be a flop.
Tesla claimed over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck, and CEO Elon Musk said he could see Tesla producing 500,000 units per year.
However, that was before Tesla announced that the production version would be much more expensive and have a shorter range than what was initially announced.
The Cybertruck has now been in production for a year and a half, and it looks like Tesla would be lucky to sell about 10% of Muskās goal of 500,000 units.
it is estimated that Tesla delivered roughly 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, and it is expected to have even more issues selling the truck this year.
OK. My question: Is the flop caused by higher pricing & less capability? Or hurt by anti-Elon furor?
If the former; Tesla can move forward. If the latter; oh boy, shareholders will be hurt going forward. My theory on that is that an EV consumer who is unaffected by Muskās antics might pass on buying a Tesla that could be subject to vandalism if a comparable EV, price wise, capability wise, from another manufacturer is available.
I must admit I havenāt ever seen such a phenomenon as the anti-Elon movement.
I have seen some stories of Tesla owners removing brand badges to avoid vandalism to their vehicles.
Yes, all of that and more. Itās ugly (in the eye of many beholders). Itās big, but has less carrying capacity (narrower bed) than lower priced versions from Ford, GM, RAM, etc.
āElectricā is not going to work for farmers and contractors, itās OK for āgreensā who donāt do heavy lifting, and did I mention itās ugly?
Definitely a specialty item for those who want to say āLook at me! Look at me! I bought an expensive, range limited, cargo limited ugly truck just to be able to say āIām differentā!ā. Thereās a market, maybe, but like so much of Muskās rhetoric, itās vastly smaller than he imagines.
I was a reservation holder way way back. But my number was such that it would have been a year or two before my place in line came up. The first year of release had too many issues with both the build, the prices, the delays. Then Rivian turned into a serious competitor in the truck/suv space and seemed to be rolling out a better product, although pretty standard in looks.
For a short while I was a Starlink customer, until one day I got an email that literally stated, my prices were going up because too many customes in my area, and other peopleās prices going down because not enough customers in those areas. Congestion pricing?!?! Nope, I was out as broadband had just made it to my street in the boonies.
Now though, with his recent antics, his fighting all govāt oversight of his companies, his gestures, his leadership of data privacy invasion, and using his kid as a human shieldā¦
ā¦now I donāt even follow Starship or Boring Comp antics anymore. I want NOTHING to do with anything he touches. Nothing he does is for the consumer or the planet, probably never was.
It appears that ALL EV trucks are a flop at this point. 2024 sales are anemic at best (approximate total sales in order from most to fewest) -
Tesla Cybertruck: 38,964 units sold Ford F-150 Lightning: 33,510 units sold Rivian R1T: 24,645 units sold Chevrolet Silverado EV: 6,500 units sold GMC Hummer EV Pickup: 5,900 units sold
It did indeed sell the most, but thatās not really relevant. You canāt make any real money by selling only 40,000 of a mass produced vehicle. That only works for very niche manufacturers at particularly high price segments (Ferrari, Rosenbauer, etc). Seems like for now at least, the public isnāt very interested in EV trucks.
My numbers, with their R1S (still a truck) was
āIn 2024, Rivian delivered 51,579 R1T trucks and R1S SUVs. This was in line with the companyās sales target of 50,500 to 52,000 vehicles.ā
That was a record year, so not sure what you are calling a slump here.
