Loud music, delirious crowd… Elon Musk unveiled Thursday, November 30, with great fanfare, Tesla’s new electric pickup, “the most exceptional object on the road”, according to the entrepreneur. The objective of this new baby: to position the manufacturer in a market already invested by its rival Ford. The billionaire arrived as a rock star, leather jacket on his shoulders, behind the wheel of his brand new toy, for this event organized at Tesla headquarters in Austin (Texas). And Elon Musk had a heavy hand on superlatives: “I think it’s our best product […] the most exceptional object on the road. The future will finally look like the future.”
This event, broadcast live on the social network When Elon Musk hands over the cars to his first customers, there is a problem. No one can open the passenger door, underlines the specialized site Numerama. Even Elon Musk can’t do it. The traditional handle has disappeared, so you have to find the button, which is not necessarily intuitive. Subsequently, the billionaire made up for it with scenes worthy of the greatest action films: machine gun fire on doors without causing a hole, pulling a construction machine or a rocket reactor, racing with a Porsche 911 (won)…
Since its announcement in November 2019, the design of the Cybertruck has not left anyone indifferent: this angled automobile is intended to be a cross between a model from the film “Blade Runner” (1982) and the “Wet Nellie”, an amphibious vehicle inspired by the Lotus Esprit, seen in “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), according to Elon Musk. “It’s better than a pick-up and better than a sports car, combined in one,” described the boss of the manufacturer, who did not skimp in praising the vehicle’s performance. To attract buyers, the firm is banking on lower prices: $50,000 (45,800 euros) for a Cybertruck, compared to nearly $80,000 (73,000 euros) for a Ford F-150 model. And what will happen in Europe? For the weekly Die Zeitpick-ups represent a “niche market on the Old Continent”.
Lower sales than others
Very popular with American customers, pick-ups are cars on which manufacturers achieve some of the highest margins. The base model of the Cybertruck sells for $60,990, significantly more than the F-150 Lightning, available for $50,000. This least expensive version will only be available in 2025, according to the manufacturer’s website. Tesla already offers two other versions, one at $79,990, the other at $99,990. The latter can reach 210 km/h, has a range of 515 km and has a towing capacity of 5 tonnes. With this fully electric pickup, it clearly shows its desire to take customers from its rival Ford.
But will customers rush to buy this futuristic-looking car? For Garrett Nelson of CFRA, this launch presents “a much higher risk” than for the Texan manufacturer’s other cars, even if he recognizes that Elon Musk “managed to calm expectations” after announcing his newborn in fanfare. The entrepreneur notably estimated that sales of the Cybertruck could be significantly lower than those of other models in the range, due to its atypical appearance, even if the order book has already exceeded one million.
“A way to attract attention”
Art Wheaton, a transportation industry expert at Cornell University, doubts the Cybertruck will ever generate significant sales because of its “divisive” design. But he sees the promise of a niche product, sufficiently differentiated to enhance the image of the Tesla brand, citing, as an example, the Chevrolet Corvette. “It’s a way to attract attention,” he says, for its owners but also for the Texan manufacturer. And to divert it, even temporarily, from the controversies associated with its platform X (formerly Twitter).
Elon Musk plans to reach production of 250,000 copies in 2025. “We dug our grave with the Cybertruck,” the billionaire joked last month. “The Cybertruck is a special product, one of those that we rarely see and which are very difficult to launch on the market, to sell in quantity, to make prosper,” described the fifty-year-old. The vehicle body is made of stainless steel plates, used to ensure its strength.
“The most polarizing entrepreneur in the world has given the public one more reason to love or hate him,” quipped the American daily Washington Post. On Wednesday, November 29, Elon Musk apologized for a message relating an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. But he also made a lot of noise by advising advertisers who boycotted the social network to “go fuck themselves”. “The Cybertruck (launch) is a historic day and we don’t see Musk’s interview (Wednesday) having an impact on its success,” responded Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities.