Tesla’s revolutionary, futuristic Cybertruck is now in serious trouble. With sales crashing and unsold inventory, Elon Musk’s EV leader has been pushed into reducing the Cybertruck price by as much as $10,000 a unit to reduce production at its Texas Gigafactory.
While there was initial enthusiasm and more than a million advance orders, Cybertruck deliveries have fallen starkly short. Tesla was opening up the second quarter of 2025 with around 2,400 unsold Cybertrucks left on its inventories, a holding worth more than $200 million. A lot of these are older 2024 2024 models no longer eligible for federal tax credits, as a number of are from the discontinued “Foundations Series”.
To get rid of more than a year-old inventory, Tesla is discounting it profusely. Recent promotions have included cutbacks as deep as $10,000, an average discount being around $8,000. But even those attempts have been confined to a small success. About 100 trucks have been cleared from inventory since the beginning of the month, indicating demand is even lower than anticipated.
Production Cuts and Workforce Reductions
To mitigate the slow performance, Tesla has allegedly cut production goals for a few Cybertruck assembly lines. Aside from the watchdog changing, Business Insider also reports that staffing has been cut; some employees claim that there is a visibly emptier parking lot at the Gigafactory.
“It looks an awful lot like they’re culling,” a worker said on the outlet. In reality, Cybertruck production has slowed so much that some workers have been redirected to working on the Model Y line — a change that has been in the works ever since January and reflects a broader manufacturing reorientation for Tesla.
This move comes after earlier production go-slows launched in December 2024, when Tesla first informed staff of their revised daily & output targets.
Ambitions vs. Reality
Tesla’s initial aim was for 250,000 Cybertrucks/year by 2025 production/selling capacity. In reality, though, that is far from the fact. Up to this point, about only 25,000 units have been sold — a tenth of what was initially forecasted.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Tesla only delivered an estimated 6,406 Cybertrucks, according to Cox Automotive. That number is down 50% from the previous quarter. Only fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks have been delivered so far, a March 20 recall filing showed.
Tesla’s Cybertruck hardships are part of a broader slump for the EV maker. Vehicle deliveries for the first quarter of 2025 were 13% lower year-over-year, as competition for the EV accelerated while the customer remained.
Mounting Pressure on Musk and Tesla
Tesla’s recent missteps occur as CEO Elon Musk takes increasing fire over his leadership and involvement in the much-criticized Department of Government Efficiency. Adding to that are public demonstrations and market turmoil.
Tesla stock has dipped about 40%—so far in the year—yet it’s still up 53% over the same period last year. This volatility underscores investor skepticism about its way ahead and its strategies currently adopting.
Conclusion
Despite present instability, Musk cannot be subdued. In a recent statement, he reiterated Tesla’s promise of doubling production in its U.S. factory in the…. But the road ahead looks tricky. Whether or not the Cybertruck will recover or become a fable in automotive history is to be seen.
