It’s not a good time to be Elon Musk as bad news rolls out of Tesla’s Austin factory. Tesla has been slowing down on Cybertruck production, and workers have been told not to report to work for the next three days. Reportedly, this isn’t the only production slowdown at Tesla’s factory either. Additionally, overtime offers have also decreased significantly.
According to Business Insider, which has four sources inside the factory, the aforementioned shutdowns also coincide with increased cleaning and training duties to fill employees’ time. Car sales are generally expected to ramp up during springtime, which means the Cybertruck factory would be cranking out cars left and right under ideal circumstances. However, despite the hefty pre-order figures, that doesn’t quite seem to be the case. It also indicates that Tesla execs aren’t expecting Cybertruck sales to pick up anytime soon.
Instead of quickly shifting inventory, the Cybertruck inventory seems to be backed up — never a good sign for a carmaker with an alleged hit on their hands. The Cybertruck received over two million pre-orders before hitting the road. However, bar some 50,000 or so, most seemed not to be serious, which isn’t surprising considering there was only a $100 deposit required when signing up for the vehicle.
The Cybertruck sales figures are still better than those of its main rivals, Rivian and Ford, standing at an estimated 48,500 in 2024. It’s not a bad showing, but with Tesla’s market share not showing any signs of jumping up and the fact that the Cybertruck only sells in the US, it begs the question of whether or not the Cybertruck will ever hit the 250,000 sales figure Musk insisted on a while ago.
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