Cybertruck Sales Plunge 51% As Musk, Tesla Face Mounting Trouble
Elon Musk’s Tesla Cybertruck is tanking fast, according to new sales figures.
Sales of the electric pickup fell a staggering 51% year-over-year in Q2, down to just 4,300 units, according to Cox Automotive. That’s despite the company claiming it had enough pre-orders to keep production busy for the next 16 years.
In December 2023, Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen said the company had taken deposits for more than 2 million Cybertrucks. At the time, Tesla was installing capacity to build up to 125,000 units annually, with plans to double that by mid-2025, Fortune reported.
But reality is now setting in. With just 10,700 trucks sold through the first half of 2025, it’s increasingly unlikely the Cybertruck will even match its modest 2024 total of 39,000 sales.
And Tesla won’t say a word about it. The company, which only releases aggregated global delivery figures, declined to comment when contacted by Fortune.
Meanwhile, traditional automakers are pulling ahead in terms of electric truck sales. In Q2, Cybertruck sales were beaten by both the Ford F-150 Lightning and the GMC Hummer EV.
“Suffice it to say, the hyper-competitive EV market is providing the troubled automaker no relief,” Cox Automotive wrote.
The most popular Cybertruck — the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version — starts at $80,000 without extras. That’s a far cry from the $50,000 price tag promised at its 2019 reveal. And the two extra years of development didn’t help.
The Cybertruck has already been hit with eight recalls in its first model year and is under two separate federal investigations for safety defects. The latest embarrassment? Videos of exterior panels falling off due to faulty glue went viral online.
Engineering choices have also raised red flags. Tesla ditched a traditional steel frame in favor of aluminum castings, which critics say can fracture under towing stress.
Some buyers may be persuaded to act now — the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expires at the end of September, and that could drive a short-term boost.
But Cox analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty isn’t optimistic about the long term.
“The second half of the year will be a critical test of EV demand,” she said. “Q3 will likely be a record, followed by a collapse in Q4.”
Meanwhile, Musk came to Donald Trump’s defense following the publication of a “birthday letter” the president allegedly sent to the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein around 2003.
The article alleges that materials from the Epstein investigation years ago included a birthday letter book, featuring one letter with the outline of a nude woman and a visible signature reading “Donald.”
The letter purportedly concludes with: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Musk wrote on X in response to the claim: “It really doesn’t sound like something Trump would say tbh [to be honest].”
On Truth Social, Trump denounced the report as “false, malicious, and defamatory,” saying he had warned The Wall Street Journal, its parent company NewsCorp, and Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch that they would face legal action if it was published.
“The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,” the post read.
The Journal did publish the letter, leading Trump to post a second legal threat.
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper,” Trump wrote.
“President Trump has already beaten George Stephanopoulos/ABC, 60 Minutes/CBS, and others, and looks forward to suing and holding accountable the once great Wall Street Journal,” he also posted.
