TL;DR
- Tesla’s Cybertruck is significantly underperforming in sales compared to expectations.
- Q2 2025 “other models” category, which includes Cybertruck, fell 52% YoY.
- Estimated Q2 Cybertruck deliveries range from 5,000–6,000 units.
- Repeated recalls, poor range, and political symbolism are damaging its appeal.
- Tesla is losing ground to EV rivals like BYD, Rivian, Ford, and GM.
- Elon Musk’s 250,000-unit annual production goal now looks unreachable.
- Despite setbacks, investor confidence remains high due to AI and autonomy hopes.
Sales Collapse Behind the Stainless Steel Hype
Despite its aggressive design and massive pre-launch buzz, Tesla’s Cybertruck has officially entered flop territory. Based on Tesla’s own Q2 2025 earnings release, total global deliveries fell 13.5% year-over-year to 384,000 units — and that includes every model the company sells.
Tesla does not disclose Cybertruck-specific delivery numbers. Instead, it lumps it with the Model S and Model X in the ambiguous “other models” category. That group saw deliveries plummet 52% year-over-year — from 21,500 in Q2 2024 to just 10,400 in Q2 2025.
Cybertruck’s Performance by the Numbers
| Metric | Value / Estimate | Source |
| Q2 2025 Tesla global deliveries | 384,000 vehicles | CNN |
| YoY change in global deliveries | -13.50% | CNN |
| “Other models” Q2 deliveries | 10,400 | Tesla IR |
| “Other models” Q2 2024 deliveries | 21,500 | CNN |
| Cybertruck Q1 2025 sales (est.) | 7,100 units | S&P Global Mobility |
| Estimated Cybertruck Q2 sales | 5,000–6,000 units | CNN |
| Original annual production goal (2025) | 250,000 units | Tesla Investor Day 2023 |
From Blade Runner Dream to Real-World Dud
Elon Musk promised that Cybertruck would be a revolutionary pickup inspired by sci-fi films like Blade Runner. But nearly a year into its release, the truck is encountering numerous structural and commercial hurdles.
Tesla’s premium EV truck suffers from:
- A real-world range (~200 miles) far below the originally promised 500 miles
- A sky-high price tag between $80,000 and $100,000
- Multiple recalls, including one for exterior panels falling off
- The lack of a promised range extender, now quietly dropped
- Design polarizing enough to provoke vandalism and political backlash
Despite the hype, Tesla appears to be getting outsold by Ford’s F-150 Lightning and GM’s electric pickups, both of which have their own challenges but never carried the massive expectations Cybertruck did.
Tesla’s Core Is Eroding as Global Rivals Surge
Tesla is on the verge of losing its EV sales crown to Chinese automaker BYD, which has already shipped 1 million EVs in the first half of 2025. That dwarfs Tesla’s 721,000.
Even though Tesla’s stock is down 17% this year, long-term investors remain optimistic due to its 300% gain over the past five years. Many bulls continue to believe in Musk’s future-facing pitches around AI, autonomy, and robotics — despite repeated misses on product delivery timelines.
Musk’s personal brand, however, is increasingly controversial. His alignment with far-right political narratives has made Cybertruck both a cultural symbol and a divisive product.
Investor Faith, But Mounting Scrutiny
The failure of Cybertruck won’t sink Tesla, but it raises critical questions about Musk’s credibility and Tesla’s ability to execute.
While Musk told investors in 2023 that the company would deliver 250,000 Cybertrucks annually by now, actual sales are tracking below 20,000 for the first half of the year.
And yet, investor faith remains. Analysts who still champion Musk as a visionary appear unfazed by Cybertruck’s commercial failure, betting instead on the promise of autonomous driving and AI breakthroughs.
Still, if Tesla wants to stay ahead of BYD, Ford, Rivian, and others, it may need more than promises and personality. It needs performance — and the Cybertruck simply hasn’t delivered.
