Demand For Tesla Cybertruck Is Weakening – CleanTechnica

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Reuters reported on December 20, 2024, that demand for the iconic Tesla Cybertruck appears to be weaker than expected. It is common knowledge in the car business that there is always a certain number of people who are willing to pay more to get the latest and greatest new thing. That was certainly true for the Cybertruck. It was supposed to cost $40,000 when it was first introduced, but the first ones manufactured cost three times as much. Today, customers can order an all-wheel-drive version for $75,000, or the Cyberbeast, which has a 276 horsepower motor up front and two 284 horsepower motors at the rear for a total of 845 horsepower (630 kW), for close to $100,000.

The truck’s higher-than-expected price tag and a design that has been called polarizing — a trapezoidal, stainless steel exterior meant to stand out in a fiercely competitive market — are keeping buyers at bay, Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions told Reuters recently. “Unfortunately, buyers of full size trucks are a rather conservative crowd. They’re just not hitting as strong as early expectations.”

Tesla does not break out sales of the Cybertruck, but data from S&P Global Mobility shows US registrations of the pickup fell to 4,335 in September and 4,039 in October, from 5,428 in August. Through October, the total was 31,451. Analysts at Bernstein had said they expected 50,000 deliveries of the Cybertruck by the end of this year. “The Cybertruck is not doing enough to bring the brand up,” said Tom Libby, S&P’s associate director of industry analysis.

Tesla has now stopped taking reservations for the Cybertruck and is allowing buyers to place orders directly. Some Cybertrucks are even available in its inventory for immediate delivery. Analysts tell Reuters those moves suggest a problem with demand. Tesla also started offering leases on the Cybertruck starting at $999 a month in November. This month, it has dropped the lease payment to $899 a month. “When you see those types of deals, they are basically an indication of softening demand,” S&P’s Libby said, but added that it was too early to conclude there was a long-term demand challenge.

The Cybertruck is also piling up on used car lots, which industry analysts consider a red flag. Used Cybertrucks are now taking about 75 days on average to sell after being listed on CarGurus, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of new and used cars. That’s up from an average of about 27 days in May. “The number of days they’re sitting is getting longer and the price is coming down, and I can tell you the sales volume has come down,” said Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at CarGurus. Demand and supply for the Cybertruck are closely monitored by Tesla investors and fans. Elon Musk has poured resources into its development but said the company could face “enormous challenges” in ramping up production and making the truck profitable.

Autoblog this week said there is no way to pinpoint a specific reason for the decline, but some are pointing to the truck’s price and unique “design.” Regular truck buyers tend to be more conservative in their choices, aiming for tried-and-true models like the others from Ford, Chevrolet, and GMC. That’s not to say those don’t cost close to the Cybertruck’s $100,000 MSRP, but at least those buyers know what they’re getting.

There are reports that Musk got the idea for the look of the vehicle from one of his children, who asked him to make it look like it was from the future. Getting design advice from a child may not be the best idea when making business decisions that involve hundreds of millions of dollars of investment. Musk himself has said he doesn’t care if the Cybertruck is a commercial success and that if it fails, he can always design a truck that is more in keeping with the expectations of mainstream truck buyers. That may be so, but it takes years to design, test, and get a new vehicle into production. By the time a restyled Tesla Truck is ready for sale, electric pickups from Ford, GM, and Ram will be on the market and Tesla will be just another electric truck manufacturer. Ask Toyota, Nissan, and Honda what it is like to try competing with the Big Three in the pickup truck segment.

Is The Bloom Off The Cybertruck Rose?

The Cybertruck is a polarizing design. Some people love it; some people hate it. The consensus around the froyo bar at CleanTechnica headquarters is that it is a bridge too far in the quest to be different. It has the style and panache of a commercial cold storage locker. It may have some appealing tech credit, but as a pickup truck that can work all day and still look good at the club after dark, it fails. One of the factors that propelled pickup truck sales starting 20 years ago was that they were no longer two-door commercial devices but stylish chariots with four doors and comfortable appointments that could replace the family car. The Cybertruck is many things, but stylish is not one of them.

One has to also consider whether the antics of Elon Musk since he acquired Twitter two years ago have not been a detriment to the brand. Now, instead of devoting his energies to making Tesla successful, he is threatening members of Congress with primary challenges if they don’t do what he tells them to do. Many are wondering who made a carpetbagger from South Africa the emperor of America. While some are thrilled by his antics, many are less so.

At one time not so long ago, Musk bragged that Tesla would see sales grow by 50 percent a year through 2030, but now it is expected that sales in 2024 will probably be flat compared to 2023. The Cybertruck was supposed to provide a big sales boost. While it was a shooting star when it first went on sale, some of its wow factor has now dissipated. With many hot new models, dealers are able to slap extra charges on — politely known as market adjustments — when they first come out because there are always those who are willing to pay extra for the privilege of being the first in their neighborhood to own one. But when normalcy returns, those same cars may be discounted to move them off the lot a few months later.

Right now it appears the Cybertruck is not going to be the sales savior Tesla needs but rather another niche automobile like the Model S and Model X. What Tesla needs is more models that will convince droves of customers to buy one. Right now, there is no such model on the horizon for Tesla.