Tesla’s Cybertruck struggled from development through production, and its sales never reached the levels Elon Musk once envisioned. The truck’s unconventional design, manufacturing challenges, recalls and connection to Musk’s political influence have all contributed to its troubled trajectory. With only a few months apparently remaining to buy one, the Cybertruck has become an increasingly visible symbol of its CEO’s broader vision.
Developing the Cybertruck proved more difficult than usual for Tesla, which had already faced major challenges bringing both the Model 3 and Model Y into mass production. Musk demanded “Lego-like precision” from the workers assembling the truck. However, based on my hands-on experience with the first Cybertruck in 2023, the company clearly did not achieve the 10-micron tolerances associated with the Danish toy company.
At the time, Cybertruck headlines focused largely on recalls and discontinued features. By then, the truck used a unibody chassis, a design more typical of Tesla than of a full-size pickup. Later that year, Musk told an audience that “we dug ourselves a grave,” perhaps publicly acknowledging for the first time that the truck would not reach the 250,000 annual sales he had previously suggested.
Sales never took off, while the Cybertruck’s divisive shape became a highly visible reminder of Musk’s role in reshaping the federal government to suit his preferences. Even selling thousands of Cybertrucks to SpaceX could not rescue the pickup. Now that the United States has vociferously rejected Musk’s vision for governance, people who want to drive a vehicle associated with that vision may have only a few months left to purchase one.
Source: arstechnica.com
