How the Cybertruck came to embody Tesla's problems

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Becky Peterson, The Wall Street Journal 6 min Read 07 Jun 2025, 10:28 am Ist US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk stand next to a Tesla Cybertruck on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. On 5 June 2025, Trump and Musk’s unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce, while the US president threatened to revenge the billionaire of his large government contracts. (File Photo: AFP) Summary The electric bakkie was supposed to create a halo effect for the brand, but the reputation of the truck was damaged by politics and the production Snafus. The bromance between Elon Musk and President Trump ends at a difficult time for Tesla. Electric vehicles manufacturer lost about $ 150 billion in market value on Thursday-the biggest decline ever-to the Tesla CEO and Trump traded insults. Teslas sales fell this year. Rates can disrupt the provision of key components. The vast Republican tax and spending bill will terminate tax credits for EV buyers. And Tesla’s Cybertruck was a disappointment. Musk sets high expectations for the Cybertruck and tells investors that it would be Tesla’s “best product ever”. The angular, stainless steel bakkie was supposed to buzz Tesla by displaying new technology and unlocking the profitable truck market. Instead, it became synonymous with Musk’s polarizing lead in politics, which some owners exposed to graffiti or middle fingers of other drivers. And its reputation was damaged by Tesla fans because of a flurry of memories and manufacturing problems that led to repairs. In the US, the company sold less than 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024 – under Musk’s ultimate goal of 250,000 per year. In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla sold about 7,100 Cubertrucks in the US, according to registration data of S&P Global Mobility. Ford’s F-150 Lightning bakkie bought it out. In an effort to increase sales, Tesla rolled out lower price versions of the truck and began offering buyers incentives such as 0% financing and free upgrades. Almost as soon as the $ 100,000 Cybertruck hit the road, quality problems began to increase. Social media reports mention cracked windshield and spotting of so -called railway dust, orange discoloration similar to rust. In the first year, Tesla remembered the truck seven times to solve dangerous defects. In March, with large metal panels falling off the trucks, the score rose to eight. Some of the quality problems were known and documented internally before the truck was for sale, including problems with the accelerator page and the wiper who later caused memories, former employees said who worked on the Cybertruck. But there was pressure in Tesla to quickly market the truck, according to these employees. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment. “Elon Musk will tell you that the biggest professional mistake was the Falcon doors on the Model X,” said David Fick, a long -time Tesla owner who got his Kubertruck in March. He referred to the complex through design that opened upwards and hanged on the roof. “I believe the Cybertruck is going to decline as an even greater corporate obstacle.” The retired banker in Boynton Beach, Florida, chose to wait more than a year to buy his Kubertruck, and hope that many of the biggest problems would be identified before driving off the lot. “They do a lot of bleeding things where they rush to the market and then you are a beta tester as an owner,” Fick said. He paid about $ 72,000 for the car, plus $ 7,300 for window tint and a customized outdoor panels, known as Cant Rails, covering his new car in a metal maroon color. Shortly thereafter, Tesla reminds Cant Rails because they could become unfounded. “I have had tons of memories of my teslas through the years,” says Fick, who added that the cars are worth it. ‘Eighty percent was fixed by [software] Updates, but these are physical things we are dealing with now. “Musk unveiled the prototype for the Kubertruck in 2019. He said at the time that it would cost $ 39,900, with a battery range of up to 500 miles – an ambitious combination that would be a stretch for any EV manufacturer. Clients, former employees said. Deleted and began to develop a smaller, trucking countries for the first time. front doors.