Aftermarket prices might soften further as Tesla is now starting to deliver a new $79,990 model to reservation holders. Not that there’s any longer much need to place reservations—North American Tesla stores now accept walk-in orders for Cybertrucks, with delivery two or three weeks later. “I am calling it: Original reservation list is basically finished,” said reservationist BayouCityBob on a Cybertruck owners forum last month. Tesla had claimed to have banked more than one million $100 pre-launch reservations for the Cybertruck.
“I was thinking I have to wait a couple of [years] before my time comes,” MC1987 responded to BayouCityBob, citing his invitation to purchase his second Cybertruck (the poster had returned their first, a top-spec Cyberbeast, because of alleged “build quality issues.”) “This is so wild,” they said.
As most other parts of the world have yet to sanction Cybertruck sales, Tesla can’t boost take-up outside of North America. UK automobile listings website Carwow describes the Cybertruck as a “rolling axe head”, a nod to the fact that the sharp-angled pickup is literally too edgy to meet strict European pedestrian-safety regulations.
Nor can Tesla rely on the US consumer’s love affair with pickups. “Something like 70 percent of all truck sales involve a truck being traded in,” says Drury. “This isn’t the case with [the Cybertruck],” he revealed, using Edmunds’ trade-in data.
“While Cybertruck hasn’t been on the market too long, it’s been long enough for us to capture some of the used ones. Because there’s no sign that Cybertrucks are being traded for trucks—which is what we typically see in America—then this likely isn’t a vehicle being used for truck-like purposes,” says Drury.
While the Cybertruck’s six recalls this year might not alarm “edgy” consumers, the bad press that often results won’t impress Tesla shareholders—higher-than-average recalls could tarnish the greater brand.
Any spike in general automobile recalls should not necessarily worry consumers since defects range widely in severity, and very few are stop-sale orders or demands to immediately cease driving any particular model. Auto makers might hate to file them, but recalls demonstrate that the regulatory system is working as designed.
However, with Musk advising government—even if it’s at arms-length—some regulators might get their wings clipped, perhaps even reducing the number of product recalls, potentially increasing danger for consumers. Not all Cybertruck owners will be too fussed about that, though.