One of the most popular electric vehicles Tesla Cybertruck, is now facing an unexpected challenge. After years of anticipation and hype, a significantly smaller number of reservation holders are willing to follow through with their purchase. This news surprised many, given the hype Tesla’s Cybertruck has created ever since it was unveiled in 2019.
Tesla Closes Cybertruck Reservation List
Tesla has officially concluded its Cybertruck reservation program, revealing that only 2.5% of reservation holders went ahead and decided to buy the vehicles. This statistic was concluded from over 1 million reservations in the US out of which only 25,000 vehicles have been delivered so far. Estimates believe that this 2.5% includes the foundation series purchase, which is without any reservation.
If it was excluded the reservation holder may drop to 2% only. This is significantly less than what the industry and Tesla have expected. This conversation rate shows a significant disconnect between initial interest and actual sales, marking it one of the biggest mismatches in automotive history.
Reasons For Low Sales
The Tesla Cybertruck was unveiled in November 2019, with a starting price initially set at $39,900, but due to rising cost of production, inflation, pandemic, and other factors have led a significant increase in the price to $60,900, which is almost 35% increase in price than what it was expected. This resulted in the loss of interest among customers who were hoping for a budget-friendly option.
Another reason could be the extended delays of the vehicle. The prolonged production time may have contributed to the issue. customers assumed that, when the Cybertruck was first announced, they would be driving it in a couple of years. However, there were many challenges to building the truck fully, and this was partly because of a few challenges such as supply logistics, and the recent covid 19 pandemic.
Reservation holders could have eventually shifted their focus or attention or even migrated to other types of electric vehicles already on the market.
Despite initial promises of a $39,900 starting price, 500-mile range, and exoskeleton body, Tesla’s significant price increases, reduced range, and failure to deliver on the exoskeleton design led to a significant number of reservation holders canceling their Cybertruck orders.
What Tesla Can Do To Increase The Sales
To increase Cybertruck sales, Tesla could implement several strategies:
Adjust Pricing: Reducing the initial price would help achieve that goal because prices have already increased sharply since the announcement almost in every market.
Enhance Range: Enhancing the battery advancement, especially the type 4680 cells could enhance the ability of the vehicle’s range, which would be a factor that consumers demand.
Broaden Trim Options: The competition must cut its prices or offer more varieties By introducing more affordable models or configurations, the demand will increase, and that will increase the sale quantity.
Marketing and Promotions: Intensifying marketing initiatives to increase awareness of additional and differentiating features of the Cybertruck might reignite the enthusiasm of prospective purchasers
Customer Engagement: Doing proactive follow-ups with reservation holders to enable the organization to comprehend their worries and needs might assist in changing the extent of reservations into sales.
Conclusion
While Tesla Cybertruck has created significant initial excitement and hype, the reservation numbers reveal how consumers’ purchasing behavior changes over time which is very challenging for Tesla and could affect the company’s long-term strategy and market viability. The situation could potentially impact investors and Tesla’s stock performance.
