Cybertruck fans ($TSLA) have only ten days to seize an opportunity as CEO Elon Musk claims the Cybertruck is the "best vehicle Tesla has ever made." On Thursday, February 19, Musk drastically reduced the price of the electric pickup, albeit temporarily.
Tesla has faced demand challenges lately, with falling electric vehicle (EV) sales in both the U.S. and China exacerbated by Musk's diminishing personal brand. In 2025, Tesla experienced its first annual revenue decline, marking a downturn in deliveries for the second consecutive year. While Tesla touts its identity as more than just a car company, over 70% of its revenue—$69.5 billion last year—still derives from automotive sales, including leasing, regulatory credits, and vehicle sales.
Service revenue, which comes from supercharging, vehicle insurance, and repairs, contributed another $12.7 billion. However, the automotive sector is not particularly high-margin, and the automotive gross margin (excluding regulatory credits) fell into negative territory for the first time in 2025, as reported by Reuters.
In the third quarter, Tesla sold roughly 5,400 Cybertrucks, reflecting a staggering 62.6% year-over-year decline according to Cox Automotive data. Traditionally, Tesla has outperformed traditional automakers like Ford in EV sales, but even Ford's F-150 Lightning EV pickup surpassed Tesla with 10,000 units sold in the same timeframe.
Although Tesla does not release official delivery figures, external analyses, including one from Finbold Research, indicate that over 16,000 Cybertrucks have been sold as of October. Kelley Blue Book reported that Tesla's total Cybertruck sales for 2025 reached just 20,237, a nearly 50% drop from 38,965 in 2024.
This week, Tesla made a move to enhance the Cybertruck's appeal, even if it's only for a limited time. The company has announced a temporary price reduction of the Cybertruck, with the new dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version starting at $59,990 and offering a range of up to 325 miles. This change nudges Tesla closer to the initial promises Musk made when he first introduced the Cybertruck.
The vehicle retains familiar features like steer-by-wire and steel paneling, while introducing some modifications such as reduced towing and payload capacities and fewer display panels, as noted by Sawyer Merritt on X (formerly Twitter).
However, the excitement around the lower price was short-lived. On February 20, Musk revealed that the $59,990 price would only be valid for the next ten days, which displeased many users on X, who speculated that Tesla might be preparing to phase out the Cybertruck, similar to what it did with the Model S and Model X earlier this year.
In addition, Tesla has permanently lowered the price for the Cyberbeast, its most advanced pickup version, from $114,990 to $99,990. This move eliminates the "luxe package" that included Supervised Full Self-Driving and free access to the Supercharger network, which was only introduced last August when the truck's price was raised.
When first teased in 2017, Musk generated significant buzz by promising an affordable pickup starting at $39,900. However, the Cybertruck debuted with a price of $60,000 and currently has a starting MSRP exceeding $72,000, according to Car and Driver. The vehicle has also faced numerous recall issues since its launch.
Recent changes in Tesla's Cybertruck initiative coincide with the departure of Siddhant Awasthi, the head of the Cybertruck program, who left the company on November 10 after more than eight years. Reports surfaced in early 2025 indicating that Tesla was scaling back Cybertruck production, with a leaked memo revealing that workers on the Cybertruck assembly line at its Austin Gigafactory would transition to Model Y production.
Cox Automotive estimates that fewer than 60,000 Cybertrucks have been sold since deliveries commenced in November 2023. Last year, Tesla halted accepting trade-ins for Cybertrucks while sitting on approximately $200 million in inventory. However, it was reported that Tesla reversed this trade-in policy last spring.
As of last year, Tesla was selling brand-new 2024 Cybertruck AWD Foundation Series vehicles for about $100,000, but a model with 6,000 miles was offered a mere $65,400—indicating a 34.6% depreciation in less than a year. Kelley Blue Book notes that pickup trucks typically lose around 20% of their value within the first year, with the depreciation rate slowing to 8% to 12% thereafter.
Currently, the cheapest used 2024 AWD Cybertrucks listed on Autotrader hover around $75,000.
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