Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cybertruck production rate was reduced even before the EV giant halted manufacturing for a few days earlier this month, according to researcher Troy Teslike.
What Happened: Teslike estimates Tesla to have produced 30,582 Cybertrucks by the end of Q3 2024 and delivered 21,450, leaving 9,132 in inventory, according to vehicle registration data for sales and VIN data for production.
Assuming some of these unsold vehicles were used as showroom models, Tesla would have had an inventory of nearly 9,000 Cybertrucks going to Q4, Teslike said. However, in this quarter, the company seems to be faced with some demand challenges, he noted, citing the production pause for the vehicle earlier this month.
Early in December, it was reported that Tesla told its workers on the Cybertruck production line at Giga Texas that they need not report to work for three days from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5.
However, according to Teslike, Cybertruck production was reduced even before the pause. The company stopped selling its more expensive Foundation series version of the Cybertruck in October and started selling regular variants priced about $20,000 lower.
Furthermore, on days in November, Tesla’s website showed that buyers could place an order for the Cybertruck and take delivery on the same day in states including California, he noted.
Based on VIN data, Tesla also cut the Cybertruck production rate by over 55% on Nov. 10, he added.
Why It Matters: Tesla started delivering the Cybertruck to customers in the U.S. in November 2023. Months prior to starting deliveries, company CEO Elon Musk said that scaling production and not demand would be the biggest hurdle for Cybertruck given its strong order book. Musk then said that the company already has over a million pre-orders for the vehicle.
However, upon the start of deliveries, the vehicle was priced significantly higher than the estimated price provided at the time of the vehicle’s unveiling in 2019, possibly deterring reservation holders from making the purchase.
According to data from automotive research company Kelley Blue Book, Tesla sold 16,692 Cybertrucks in the third quarter in the U.S., trumping EV trucks from rivals including the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T, to become the third-best-selling EV behind Model Y and Model 3.
However, the company had bigger ambitions for the Cybertruck with Musk previously saying that the company is aiming to make up to 250,000 Cybertrucks in 2025.
Cybertruck production achieved a positive gross margin for the first time in the third quarter.
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