Elon Musk bet big on the Cybertruck.
It didn’t emerge from focus groups, mimic successful truck models, or even resemble Tesla’s own—at the time—successful S, X, 3, and Y lines. It was an ...
So how many Cybertrucks did Tesla actually sell?
A March recall—in which Cybertruck panels were literally falling off due to faulty glue—betrayed the number: 46,096 sold in the 14 months since deliveries began. That’s less than 3,300 per month.
I'm shocked they sold 46,000 of those things at all, I'm also shocked people are still buying the others, why would you buy a car from a company that is about to collapse? Particularly one with the documented production quality of this one?
I have no idea why Tesla thought that the Cybertruck would sell well enough to justify the production numbers.
They should have did the Roadster first instead and then the Cybertruck, both run in 5k lots to meet orders. Making such niche vehicles like it was going to be bought up like an F150 or a Civic is just dumb.
Yes, that is the main throughline with Musky products. No, he had no hand in spacex, got fired from paypal, and had nothing to do with the beginnings of Tesla.
Roadster would have been low production numbers, but at least they’d expect that and not spend the money scaling up.
I believe they came out with Plaid edition, expecting that to get most of the people wanting roadsters. At least it’s fast even if it’s a totally different form factor. Either that or they couldn’t figure out how to make the roadster fast enough to keep it from cannibalizing model s
Jokes on them: I’d never be able to afford a high end roadster but I’d seriously consider a Miata-like electric roadster. Seems like they could build something on a model 3 chassis
I have no idea why Tesla thought that the Cybertruck would sell well enough to justify the production numbers.
It was originally said to be sold at $40k and a long range. Even back at the announcement time ICE pickups were expensive. Even people that were put off by the looks could swallow getting a full sized truck which wouldn't need expensive fuel for $40k. It just never ended up being that.
Yeah when it was announced I remember thinking "damn, that would totally be worth it despite the fact that it looks a bit weird," - because at that price it was actually cheaper than the available sedans. But of course, that was six years ago, before Musk made a complete Nazi of himself and of course, before it became a $100k boondoggle.
"Full size". For anyone actually needing to haul shit in the bed it's missing ~6 cubic feet of space from the smallest bed size of an F-150 and around 30 cubic feet of usable bed space from a long bed Silverado. It's also missing about 2000lbs of towing capacity. The Lightning has slightly less towing capacity but more room in the bed for your stuff.
These were never going to be used for the same thing a working truck would be used for. It was going to be another big ass parking lot princess and it was always going to take up as much or more room than a full size truck for less usability.
So did anyone in the world actually expect them to be at that price though? I mean has anything Musk promised in the last ten years not turn out to be a blatantlie? Anyone who had high expectations of the cyber truck just lied to themselves, they had absolutely zero reason to believe any of the promises were going to be met.
I have no idea why Tesla thought that the Cybertruck would sell well enough to justify the production numbers.
Two words; one man: Elon Musk.
I highly doubt he surrounds himself with anybody that would challenge the things he dreams up. He’s also addicted to Special K, which probably makes him think he’s that much more of a genius and cannot fathom himself being wrong.
The thing about getting high all the time is that eventually you will come down. And usually it’s with a crash.
He’s already fucked his bromance with Trump, and it looks like SpaceX will be taking the hit. Tesla is in the shitter, and it’s looking like that toilet is clogged and about to run over.
It’s only a matter of time before Musk implodes on himself. His “glue” is going to come undone, and his “panels” will fall to the floor with a loud thud.
They stand out a lot more. There's so many of every other car that you just don't "see" them. They're the traffic.
I've parked my car in the middle of a group of three other identical cars. It took four of the same make, model and color in the same location at the same time in the same part of the parking lot to even be noticable.
Middle of Ohio. Wealthyish Republican enclave. I can't wait to move the fuck out of here. I did not plan to come here, just trying to make the best out of circumstance. As soon as the kids are up and out, I am fucking GONE.
3,300 per month. So ~110 per day? Across the world? That's amazing.
I wish I could see the breakdown on sales by state, or even better, by county. I see them a lot in my east coast region, and I know people see them a lot in areas of California. I wonder how many weren't sold in coastal, and/or blue areas.
There's a lot of places (outside of US) that won't certify it as a road vehicle so the data is going to be skewed towards places with shitty safety regulations.