The Cybertruck was supposed to be Tesla $TSLA’s flex: a stainless-steel symbol of Elon Musk’s unflinching futurism. But instead, the pickup’s luster is continuing to wear thin.
Cybertruck sales plunged as the rest of the EV market surged, suggesting Tesla’s flashiest project is becoming its weakest link
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The Cybertruck was supposed to be Tesla $TSLA’s flex: a stainless-steel symbol of Elon Musk’s unflinching futurism. But instead, the pickup’s luster is continuing to wear thin.
According to Cox Automotive’s latest EV sales report, Tesla sold just 5,385 Cybertrucks in the third quarter, down 62.6% from a year earlier. The decline came as the broader U.S. EV market posted its strongest quarter on record, with sales up nearly 30% to more than 438,000 vehicles. Ford $F sold almost twice as many electric F-150 Lightning trucks in the same quarter, while even Chevrolet’s fledgling Silverado EV and Rivian $RIVN’s R1T gained ground.
The Cybertruck comparison is slightly distorted by timing — Q3 2024 captured the truck’s early ramp — but even adjusting for that, deliveries have slowed, and orders have thinned. And the sales drop came even as buyers rushed to lock in federal EV tax credits before they expired in late September, a policy boost that's now in the rearview mirror.
Tesla still commands about 41% of the EV market, but its share has slipped from nearly half last year — and the company’s stainless-steel pickup is the biggest drag on its lead. The company’s core models still move volume, but its more ambitious projects — from the Cybertruck to the long-promised robotaxi — are proving harder to scale than to hype.
When Musk unveiled the Cybertruck back in 2019, its $39,990 price tag, Blade Runner aesthetic, and millions of preorders looked like a dare to Detroit. But nearly six years later, the sticker shock has flipped. The cheapest version now starts above $60,000, and early adopters are discovering that the attention-grabbing angles don’t make for a particularly practical ride.
The Model Y remains the country’s best-selling EV by far, yet Tesla’s total share has fallen eight points in a year as rivals finally scale up. What was once a moat of innovation is now crowded with well-funded competition, and the Cybertruck’s sharp edges (and fit and finish issues) are beginning to look like a distraction.
The Cybertruck was meant to signal Tesla’s next era — a company moving beyond sedans and SUVs into America’s most profitable vehicle class. Instead, the model is revealing Tesla’s limits. Demand elsewhere may remain robust, but the truck is exposing how hard it is to act like a disruptor once you’ve become the incumbent.
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