Latest news with #Cybertrucks
Mint
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Mint
The Cybertruck's future is brighter than you think
While running errands in suburban Boston recently, I spotted two Cybertrucks within the space of just a few minutes. The first was painted white, emblazoned with American flags. The other was the now-familiar matte-finished, stainless steel model, which I have begun to see on a regular basis. It occurred to me then what I see now in the data: Rumors of the Cybertruck's demise may be premature. With the launch of the Cybertruck in late 2023, Tesla aimed to gain a foothold in the U.S. pickup truck market—which sells nearly three million units annually. Unlike any of the full-size pickup trucks available from Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which dominate the gasoline-powered U.S. pickup truck market, the Cybertruck is, in the words of the announcer on Monty Python, something completely different. Its angular, futuristic aesthetic is a blend of Bauhaus and Blade Runner. Its early adopters are auto-enthusiasts, enthralled by the truck's unique—if for some—polarizing appearance. When Tesla entered the electric vehicle truck market, the water had already been warmed by Rivian. Its R1T won Motor Trend's 2022 Truck of the Year. Ford's F-150 Lightning received the same award the following year. Sales of EV pickup trucks have been modest. Earlier this year, Ford announced it had sold 33,510 Ford F-150 Lightning EVs in 2024, an increase of 39% from the previous year. Rivian doesn't publish unit sales by model, but my firm, Battle Road Research, estimates it sold roughly 12,000 R1Ts in 2024, likely flat with 2023. Tesla, for its part, doesn't reveal sales by model. But it reported that its 'Other Models" category, which includes the Cybertruck, Model S, Model X, and the Tesla Semi, accounted for 85,133 units delivered in 2024. Cox Automotive estimates nearly 39,000 Cybertrucks were sold last year. If that number is correct, then for all of the negative press and criticism of its design and reliability, the Cybertruck became the category leader in its first full year of availability. We now estimate Tesla's share at 36% of a 108,000-unit market in the U.S. Ford's F-150 Lightning follows with 31% market share. The road to leadership has been rocky for Tesla. The Cybertruck has had its share of recalls—though a recall isn't the headache it was in the pre-EV era, when every issue required a trip to the dealership. Like Apple, Tesla has been able to address many of its flaws through over-the-air software updates, such as enlarging the font size of its instrument panel so that braking and parking indicators could be seen. Flaws in the rearview camera's display and in the warning light for the tire pressure monitoring system were also fixed with software updates. Some physical recalls have been required to fix things like a trapped foot pedal that caused unintended acceleration. Of course, the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T have also had their share of physical recalls. The Cybertruck will now have to face-off with the venerable GM, another newcomer to the EV pickup market. GM is taking a portfolio approach, with three different EV pickup models: the GMC Hummer EV (available as an SUV or pickup truck), the Sierra EV, and the Chevrolet Silverado EV. But GM, like Ford, has much to lose by entering the EV market. It has roughly 40% of the conventional pickup truck market. Ford, which dominated the pickup truck market for nearly a half-century, now has 32% of the market, with 765,649 F-series units sold in 2024. So there may be little or no incentive for them to cannibalize the sales of their gas-powered pickups, particularly since those tend to be their most profitable models. This may be why both GM and Ford are pouring cold water on the idea that EVs will one day soon overtake gas-powered engines All indications are that Tesla will remain committed to the category. This year, Tesla started offering a long-range rear wheel drive version of the Cybertruck priced at $70,000, which makes it the first model to qualify for the full Inflation Reduction Act's $7,500 EV tax credit. Previously, only the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevy Silverado qualified for the full credit. Tesla will likely remain one of the category's volume leaders. Cox Automotive estimates that in the first quarter of 2025, Cybertruck registrations totaled 7,126, just behind Ford's F-150 Lightning sales of 7,913. If Tesla wants to gain more market share, it will need to get down the cost curve with a reasonable price for the Cybertruck. At some point, though probably not for at least a couple of years, another incarnation of the Cybertruck will breach the $50,000 price level. There is precedent for this type of price and performance improvement in Tesla's product line: The Model 3 is a more affordable version of the Model S, and the Model Y is a dramatically lower-priced version of the Model X. So don't be surprised if in the next few years Tesla unveils a Cybertruck successor—smaller, fleeter, and faster. Ben Z. Rose is president and analyst at Battle Road Research
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla Pauses Texas Gigafactory Production of Model Y, Cybertruck Amidst Slowing Demand
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the best QQQ stocks to buy according to hedge funds. On June 17, it was reported that Tesla is implementing another production halt at its Gigafactory in Texas, which will affect the Model Y and Cybertruck production lines. This shutdown is slated to begin on June 30 and extend through the week of the July Fourth holiday. It will mark the second such pause at the facility in 2 months and the 3rd in the past year. The production halts come amid mounting pressure on Tesla due to slower demand and increasing inventory levels. Earlier in June this year, reports indicated that Tesla was renting overflow parking lots across the US to store unsold vehicles, which included Cybertrucks. Cybertruck production has already been scaled back in 2025, with sales tracking at about half of the previous year's figures, despite the introduction of cheaper variants, eligibility for federal tax credits, and increased discounts. As of March 2025, fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks had been delivered, and around 10,000 remain unsold across the US. Tesla experienced a 13% year-over-year drop in total deliveries in Q1 2025, which the company attributed partly to the Model Y design refresh causing a production bottleneck. However, current estimates suggest that Q2 2025 deliveries could be down as much as 19% to 20% compared to Q2 2024. The company has been operating most of its global factories at ~60% utilization since 2024. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells EVs, and energy generation & storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. While we acknowledge the potential of TSLA as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Euronews
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Euronews
Tesla readies for possible robotaxi launch this weekend
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said public rides of his company's first robotaxi might be available as early as June 22 in the city of Austin, Texas. Musk said on his social media platformX that the date could shift because the company is 'being super paranoid about safety.' Some X users reported that they were invited to be some of the first to use the robotaxi on its launch this weekend. The Cybercab, the name for Tesla's robotaxi, had also been spotted near Austin, Texas, earlier this month. Euronews Next has reached out to Tesla to confirm whether the launch is still happening but did not receive a response at the time of publication. The launch could come despite a group of Democratic Texas lawmakers asking Tesla to delay the robotaxi debut 'in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations'. Is the Cybercab ready? Crijn Bouman, CEO of Rocsys, a company that develops service infrastructure for autonomous vehicles, told Euronews Next that Tesla's potential launch is important because it 'will emphasise that the robotaxi is real.' 'It will come with the realisation that… autonomous driving just works,' he said. 'It's difficult to say whether [Tesla is] ready or not, but everybody's excited and for sure everyone will be watching'. For Tesla's launch to be successful, Bouman said the company will have to have not only the robotaxi ready but also all of the infrastructure around it. That means scaling up to '1000' vehicles, a 'couple dozen' service hubs to clean and charge the cars and finding regular maintenance services for them, he added. The company, which used to 'control the narrative' on autonomous vehicles, is now facing competition from Waymo, the first company in North America to scale up a robotaxi business, Bouman said. 'If the whole operation isn't included, they won't be close to Waymo at all,' he said, noting that Waymo Rideshare sends a safe, clean robotaxi to a pickup location in five minutes. 'We likely won't see that on [Sunday]'. Might not be enough to 'turn the tide' of public opinion The Cybercab's potential launch comes at a difficult time for Tesla as stocks have plummeted over the last six months withfactories and Cybertrucks being vandalised. Tesla is also facing an investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US after the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system was allegedly involved in multiple crashes, including one where a pedestrian was killed. Bouman doesn't believe that an eventual robotaxi launch will 'turn the tide' of public opinion towards Tesla unless the company starts to be more transparent. 'You have to show that the service is actually working at scale… normally the bar is that a robotaxi has to be ten times more safe than a human driver to gain the trust of the public,' he said. '[Tesla] has to show that [with] … a third party analysis on the data'.
Miami Herald
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Tesla Pauses Cybertruck, Model Y Production to Cut Backlogs
Tesla will temporarily halt operations at its Austin, Texas Gigafactory later this month, a move it says will allow it to run maintenance at the plant. But the move also will permit it to draw down increasingly bloated inventories of both the slow-selling Cybertruck pickup and the recently updated Model Y SUV. Though it remains the largest U.S. producer of battery-electric vehicles, the automaker has undergone a sharp decline in sales this year, something analysts blame on both rising competition and the backlash that's hit Tesla due to CEO Elon Musk's political shift to the hard right. The production pause will come just days after the Austin plant is set to roll out the first Tesla robotaxi – something Musk has declared essential to the automaker's future. But a group of Texas lawmakers have called on Tesla to put the launch of its new driverless ride-sharing service temporarily on hold. Tesla revealed plans to pause production at the Texas Gigafactory during a staff meeting this week, according to Business Insider. The Austin team was told the move was meant to give Tesla time to performance maintenance at the factory. "Most automakers have a summer shutdown for a couple weeks which they use to work on their machinery," said Sam Abuelsamid, lead analyst with Telemetry Research. "I wouldn't totally rule out they'll do some maintenance," he added, "but I'm skeptical that's the only reason" This marks the third time that production of the Cybertruck will have been paused over the past 12 months, but the first halt for the updated Model Y launched around the end of the first quarter. In Farmington Hills, Michigan, scores of unsold Cybertrucks have been stored in the parking lot of a now-closed Bed Bath & Beyond store. The situation reportedly is repeated at locations around the country as demand for the electric truck continues to slow. Shortly after it was first revealed in November 2019, Tesla claimed to have received 1 million advance reservations, complete with $100 deposits. That led Tesla to tool up the Austin plant to produce as many as 250,000 of the trucks annually. But demand hasn't come close. The automaker confirmed selling than 39,000 of the pickups all last year and the trendline has continued declining this year, S&P Global Mobility reporting just 7,126 Cybertrucks were registered during the first quarter of 2025. To put that into perspective, that's 10% fewer than the 7,913 Ford F-150 Lighting EVs registered during the same period. There are indications another critical Tesla product line may be fizzling, despite a major midcycle refresh. The Model Y has been the automaker's best-selling product and the update, known insider Tesla by its codename, Jupiter, was expected to reverse declining sales. Though Tesla only reports production and delivery numbers on a quarterly basis, preliminary registration data does not look encouraging, said Abuelsamid. "All indications are that the refreshed Model Y isn't selling as well as expected, nor even as well as the old one did last year." Tesla remains the EV segment's 800-pound gorilla in the U.S. market, but its share is now below 50% and continuing to fall. New EV registrations, overall, fell 4.4% in April, marking the first monthly decline in 14 months, according to S&P. But the majority of brands in the battery-electric sector actually reported gains. Chevrolet and its upscale sibling Cadillac were up by triple digits. "It was mostly Tesla," said Sam Fiorani, lead analyst with AutoForecast Solutions. The automaker reportedly suffered a 16% year-over-year dip in registrations in April, despite the launch of the new Model Y. A variety of factors appear to be in play. To start, the Model Y update didn't go far enough, said Fiorani, contending that "a ground-up makeover" was what Tesla really needed. If anything, Tesla simply doesn't have enough product to compete as more and more competition come to market, he and other analysts agree. The automaker continues to delay introducing a new entry model to compete with the likes of the Chevrolet Equinox EV that starts in the mid-$20,000 range after factoring in federal incentives. Then there's Musk's active move to the political right which became increasingly obvious after his October 2022 takeover of social media site Twitter and his subsequent role as head of the controversial Department of Government Efficiency under Pres. Donald Trump. That's alienated many traditional Tesla buyers, Fiorani and Abuelsamid agreed, leading to protests and boycotts. Even before Musk shifted his focus away from politics last month he was signaling to investors that the company's future would become less about EVs and more about technologies such as AI, humanoid robots and autonomous ride-sharing. Earlier this month, Musk said he was "tentatively" scheduling a rollout of the first 10 to 20 "robotaxis" on June 22 from the Austin factory – though he warned the date could be pushed back because, "We are being super paranoid about safety." The first of those driverless vehicles will be modified versions of the new Model Y, though Tesla continues development of a new model, the CyberCab, specifically designed for the driverless service. Musk isn't the only one "paranoid" about safety. A group of Democratic lawmakers from Texas have requested Tesla delay the robotaxi launch "in the best interest of both public safety and building public trust in Tesla's operations." They want Tesla to wait until a new law, revising the state's earlier autonomous vehicle regulations, goes into effect on September 1. The new rules will require, among other things, that companies like Tesla report any failures, have a limp-hone mode for any vehicle that may suffer glitches while in operation, and have a plan of action in the event of a more serious crisis. Even if it declines to delay the robotaxi launch, the Texas lawmakers are hoping to get a commitment from the automaker that it will obey the new guidelines without waiting for September. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Int'l Business Times
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Int'l Business Times
Tesla Plans Temporary Shutdown of Cybertruck and Model Y Production Lines
A Tesla Cybertruck is displayed at a Tesla dealership on December 20, 2024 in Corte Madera, California. Tesla is temporarily pausing production of its Cybertruck and Model Y at the Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. According to workers familiar with the plans, the shutdown is scheduled to begin the week of June 30 and last for one week, with normal operations expected to resume shortly after. The company informed employees that this pause will allow for essential maintenance and upgrades to the production lines. According to BusinessInsider , staff members were given the choice to either take paid time off or participate in optional training sessions and cleaning tasks during the break. This marks at least the third production pause at the Austin plant in the past year. A similar shutdown took place in late May, and another brief halt occurred in December 2024 due to a reported battery supply issue. Back in April 2025, Tesla reduced the pace of Cybertruck production and shifted some employees to different roles within the company. Tesla has not officially commented on the upcoming pause, but insiders say the move is intended to help boost overall output in the future. While the company didn't say which lines will see increased production, Tesla is also making preparations for its planned robotaxi launch in Austin. 🚨BREAKING: "NO PRODUCTION" TESLA GIGAFACTORY TEXAS $TSLA There has been no production of the Model Y and Cybertruck all week, with the framing of the north side building expected to be completed next week! — Tesla Archive (@tesla_archive) June 2, 2025 Tesla Faces Slow Sales and Rising Inventory in 2025 CEO Elon Musk recently stated that the service could begin as early as June 22, using 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles. During earlier pauses, Tesla offered training sessions to improve factory culture and workforce skills. Workers who remain on-site next week may see similar opportunities. Industry experts note that temporary production halts are not uncommon, especially during slower sales seasons like summer. Major automakers such as Ford and General Motors have paused lines in the past to manage inventory and update systems. In fact, Ford suspended production of its F-150 Lightning for seven weeks in late 2024. However, this pattern of pauses is relatively new for Tesla. According to workers who spoke with Business Insider, production pauses like these were uncommon until recently. The company is reportedly dealing with slower sales and growing inventory, even after introducing discounts and new versions of the Cybertruck that qualify for federal tax credits. Tesla saw a 13% decline in vehicle deliveries during the first quarter of 2025. The company is set to release its second-quarter results next month, Electrek said. By the end of March, public filings showed that fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks had been delivered. Musk has warned that the launch date could shift due to safety concerns but remains optimistic. "We are being super paranoid about safety," he said. Originally published on © {{Year}} All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
