Tesla this week began offering discounts of up to $2,600 on Cybertrucks in its inventory – the latest signal that demand for the unusual electric truck has leveled off lower than the company expected.
The Cybertruck debuted late in 2023, with a level of buzz rarely seen in the automotive industry. Its science-fiction-inspired looks and extreme performance claims helped it become the best-selling vehicle of any kind priced over $100,000 by early summer of 2024.
But demand dropped off late in the year. By the end of the year, the automaker had sold just under 40,000 of the trucks and had already fulfilled all orders and started accumulating unsold inventory. The company began removing special edition badges from trucks to sell them at lower prices.
Now, CNBC reports, “Discounts are as high as $1,600 off new Cybertrucks, with the reduced price depending on configuration, and up to around $2,600 for demo versions of the trucks in inventory.”
More Than a Million Orders Became 40,000 Sales
At launch, Tesla claimed to have more than a million reservations for the pickup. However, reservations are often an inaccurate measure of consumer interest in a new electric vehicle (EV). Most automakers set the price of a reservation very low and refund it when consumers cancel. So, getting in line and deciding not to buy is a low-risk affair.
Tesla sold Cybertruck reservations for just $100, fully refundable.
We should note that finding and filling a niche is not necessarily a bad business strategy. Headlines about the discounts characterize them as a failure for Tesla. However, the company created a unique product and delivered it to an excited audience.
Their challenge remains to find an audience for the truck after that initial enthusiastic group of buyers. Tesla suffered its first-ever annual sales drop in 2024. Tesla has no significant new products publicly scheduled for 2025, though a low-volume $250,000 Roadster may appear after a years-long delay. A refreshed version of its best-selling Model Y could boost interest in that car.
In recent months, Tesla has launched leasing programs for the truck and offered some buyers free charging at its nationwide network of Supercharger stations to entice more Americans to consider the truck.