Tesla Inc.’s highly-anticipated vehicle, the Cybertruck, has been creating quite a stir as its introduction to the market draws near.
Esteemed Bloomberg news anchor, Jon Erlichman, recently tweeted his insights on the forthcoming launch, indicating that the Cybertruck might potentially propel Tesla’s business to the tune of $30 billion. However, he also underscored the fierce competition in the full-size pickup market, a sector currently dominated by industry giants Ford, General Motors, and Ram, with these three companies enjoying over 90% of sales.
The Cybertruck, revealed by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk back in 2019, intrigued the public with its unique, futuristic design, generating an influx of preorders. Erlichman believes that this extraordinary design could complicate the production scale-up process.
Elon Musk, in a previous statement in May, projected the annual Cybertruck sales volume to reach 500,000 once production is at full capacity, rivaling the sales of Chevrolet’s Silverado. With the average cost of a full-size pickup truck exceeding $60,000, Tesla could potentially rake in $30 billion from half a million sales, added Erlichman.
Alongside these promising forecasts, potential obstacles were highlighted. Erlichman pointed out the possible impact on profit margins of introducing an electric pickup truck, stating, “Trucks rake in substantial profits. However, maintaining affordability for electric vehicles can dent those profits.”
Another conundrum lies in whether the Cybertruck’s radical design will resonate with conventional pickup truck consumers. A potential misfire in this area could prompt Tesla to revisit their innovative design.
Why Should We Care?
Online crowd-sourced data points to a substantial interest in the Cybertruck, with reservations skyrocketing to nearly 1.94 million as of last Friday.
In the recent earnings call, Musk asserted that the demand is so enormous, it’s as if the ‘hook’ is out of sight.
In addition to Musk’s confident assertions, Gary Black from the Future Fund anticipated that just as the introduction of Model Y in 2021 saw Tesla’s volume growth leap from 36% in 2020 to 87%, the Cybertruck could potentially catalyze a similar surge in 2024.
