It's certainly an unconventional design. I have mixed feelings about it from that aspect.<p>I think the main thing is they launched a $100k truck when the initial hype was for a $40k truck. It also doesn't help that electric vehicle sales seem to be in the gutter for all US automakers.
Not that surprising. The design you either love or hate, its one of those designs that will forever be remembered. Along with that, the price tag was pretty steep for what I saw as little to no innovation. If they had delivered on the promised range it would have been different.
This was predictable. It's just too ostentatious to be a big seller. Elon himself predicted it; even before launch he was saying:<p>"To be frank, there is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else.<p>I don’t care. I love it so much even if others don’t."<p>He never said anything similar about Tesla's other products.<p><a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1415733231589097472" rel="nofollow">https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1415733231589097472</a><p>At every earnings call including the most recent one Tesla keeps saying "Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025." Note the plural on "affordable models". So that is what will make or break their sales growth for the next few years. Progress on FSD may also contribute if it continues to accelerate the way it did in the last 6 months with v12 and v13. Cybertruck will not be material.
It was always clear that the car's cost and divisive looks were always going to hold it back to a niche item. But I think the problem is bigger than that.<p>You could always forgive Tesla's shortcomings when they owned the market. When the Tesla Model S dropped, it invented the product category. When the Model 3 dropped, it was it's category leader. The Cybertruck was so late to the game that it's not even a competitive option in the electric pickup truck market.<p>Theoretically they could mess with their tooling to create a model with a more traditional/less expensive body and try to compete with the much cheaper Rivian.
It seems doubtful that the tax credit will help. I think these things just have a really bad reputation and people don't want to be laughed at for spending $80K on one. (not to mention the CEO's bad reputation)
I ordered one, but it's dramatically more expensive (50% more?) than what I signed up for. Either Tesla cant make them for less, or they are milking their pricing cascade strategy a little further. Until we see parking lots full of unsold inventory, we can reasonably assume it's still production constrained.
Musk fairly recently "switched sides" to be republican, presumably trying to pick up a new truck-centric user base in the US south.<p>Unfortunately, these figures show it backfired badly. He has alienated his mostly left-leaning fanbase, whilst seemingly failing to drum up any new buyers from the new crowd.