Tesla shares ended the trading session on Thursday in the red, amid a tweet from CEO Elon Musk admitting there’s “always some chance” his company’s Cybertruck could “flop.”
Despite this, Musk intends to maintain Cybertruck’s “production design” which is essentially identical to its demonstration car – a massive metal trapezoid.
After an op-ed on TheTruthAboutCars.com speculated that the Cybertruck could be Tesla’s first “flop” car, meaning it won’t sell in large quantities, Musk indicated that there is a strong probability that the truck could underperform.
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Musk tweeted, “To be frank, there is always some chance that Cybertruck will flop, because it is so unlike anything else. I don’t care. I love it so much even if others don’t. Other trucks look like copies of the same thing, but Cybertruck looks like it was made by aliens from the future.”
He also responded to another Twitter user @BLKMDL3 who asked “Any new info or pics you wanna share?”
“In (the) end, we kept production design almost exactly same as show car. Just some small tweaks here & there to make it slightly better. No door handles. Car recognizes you & opens door. Having all four wheels steer is amazing for nimble handling & tight turns!,” Musk said.
Tesla shares fell -0.43% in the last trading session, bringing their price to $650.60. With a market cap of $626.74 billion, it has also had negative YTD returns of -10.85%. The stock has been in a bearish trend from the start of the trading session, according to technical analysis.
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The backstory to Tesla’s Cybertruck
The unveiling of the Cybertruck in 2019 generated a sensation, owing to the vehicle’s unique appearance and Musk’s request that Tesla design chief, Franz von Holzhausen smash the vehicle’s windows, which he did. Musk was surprised when Holzhausen threw a metal ball at one of the windows, which shattered but stayed in place.
Despite the launch mishap and uncertainties about when Tesla will be able to start delivering the Cybertruck, $100 orders flooded in. Within a week of the Cybertruck’s launch, Musk stated that the company had seen about 250,000 visitors.
In actuality, since the November 2019 event, the Cybertruck has received over a million pre-orders. It remains to be seen whether those reservations will be honoured when the car goes into production later this year in Giga, Texas. The Cybertruck has undoubtedly piqued the attention of millions upon millions of people.
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What to expect
Tesla described the Cybertruck as “in development” in its first-quarter investor presentation. On July 26, the firm is scheduled to provide an update and second-quarter results.
If the four-wheel steering function materializes, it will put the Cybertruck in direct competition with the GMC Hummer EV, which currently has a “crab mode” feature.
Musk said nothing about the Tesla Cyberquad, an ATV that was supposed to go along with the Cybertruck.
