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It’s eye-catching and controversial and that is exactly what Elon musk wanted [nt]
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So embarrassing. What a flop. Someone must have gotten fired after such a shameful exhibition with the “bulletproof” glass. [nt]
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Can one take a truck that is utilitarian by design...
...make it look avant-garde and still have it appeal to the folks outside of big cities who also happen to be the largest purchasers of trucks? Has this been done before?
It's not for me but it'll be interesting and fun to watch this play out.
Kind regards,
Dan
The Question Is; Will Cybertruck Sell?
Some facts I've known and have come to realize; hopefully some of these facts are useful for WatchProSite readers outside of the USA:
1. In USA, the top selling truck models outsell the top selling car and SUV models. For instance, 400,000 units of the Ford F-150 are sold per annum in the USA.
2. A large percentage of trucks sold in the USA enter a corporate fleet. For instance, the Power and Water Utility Company may purchase thousands of trucks per year for their fleet vehicles.
3. Lots of these fleet trucks are modified to add boxes and other parts to adapt the truck to be more useful for their line of business. For instance; a truck used to inspect power lines will be adapted for such and a truck used by a plumber will probably be adapted differently.
4. Americans are handy. They like trucks themselves. Even individuals who work at jobs where they would never need a truck still often buy a truck for themselves. Despite trucks consume a lot of fuel, are larger and therefore more difficult to park (even parking lots in USA are getting smaller than before), and are typically expensive to insure; many Americans like the idea of owning a truck.
5. One of the largest complaints of truck operators is this; trucks need to be more durable, when a builder is carrying a long piece of wood, sometimes he turns too quickly and hits the wood against his truck. This scratches, dents, and sometimes even breaks the glass of his truck. Many truck operators wished that trucks had tougher paint, body panels, and glass.
Considering these facts, and applied towards a context of, "Will Tesla's Cybertruck sell?"
1. It will likely sell well among consumer truck buyers. Especially the one mentioned in section 4 above.
2. The metal folding process is an unconventional way to build a truck. Instead of using stamped sheet metal, using folded thicker metal is definitely a very different way to build a truck. Curves are difficult to achieve since stamping is not scalable. This limits the design possibilities of the truck.
3. Notice in the current design iteration the window has a large peak. That peak will be strange as it's not likely to be able to be fully retracted into the door, possibly leaving a pointy edge exposed when the window is folded down.
4. Cybertruck is not likely to appeal to corporate fleet buyers. Due to the unconventional design of the truck, corporate fleets are not likely to adopt it.
5. Cybertruck is not likely modifiable for many corporate fleets, at least not until modification companies are able to create products and services tailored for Cybertruck.
6. Honda Ridgeline's original unibody structure was a big difficulty for many truck buyers and subsequently the Honda Ridgeline truck didn't sell well among professionals and fleets. The Tesla Cybertruck also has this unibody structure (traditional trucks have two succinct and separate structures, a cab and a bed; the Honda Ridgeline and Tesla Cybertruck essentially have the two structures integrated as one).
7. The unibody structure aforementioned is therefore likely to be a major limiting factor in Cybertruck's adaptability for professional tradesmen.
8. The Cybertruck's covered vault or rolling tonneau cover may be prone to failure; leaves, rocks, seeds, sap, and dust will potentially create problems in certain environments.
9. The coolness of the Cybertruck does attract a new audience to the world of trucks. Someone like me who never seriously considered owning a truck before is now intrigued about this specific truck.
I'd have to dig deeper into some greater data to make a determination about whether or not Tesla's Cybertruck will sell. But it's definitely an interesting product and I'm very intrigued!
Full disclosure; I'm a Tesla vehicle owner, a Tesla stockholder, and a former corporate audit analyst who covered Tesla.
Thanks Patrick, for your input
I too am intrigued. I'm not a typical truck buyer, but I have an interest in this vehicle. I currently own a Ridgeline and it's very useful for the type of chores I put it to. I have major issues with Honda's user interface in the cabin, but the truck's size, utility and performance are fine.
As you know, I've had a battery-powered Fiat 500e, and have for 12 years owned a Gen1 Honda Insight and recently got one of the last Chevy Volts, which we love. So I'm partly into the EV universe.
Would I swap the Ridgeline for the Cybertruck? Very likely.
BTW, on the latest video I saw Tesla promoting this as a candidate for fire departments, lifeguards, police and so forth. I think there may indeed be some roles they could fill, but it would take corporate and fleet sales forces to compete with Chevy, Ford, Dodge. I'm not sure they have the sales structure to do that effectively.
Mike
As you know, I've had a battery-powered Fiat 500e, and have for 12 years owned a Gen1 Honda Insight and recently got one of the last Chevy Volts, which we love. So I'm partly into the EV universe.
Would I swap the Ridgeline for the Cybertruck? Very likely.
BTW, on the latest video I saw Tesla promoting this as a candidate for fire departments, lifeguards, police and so forth. I think there may indeed be some roles they could fill, but it would take corporate and fleet sales forces to compete with Chevy, Ford, Dodge. I'm not sure they have the sales structure to do that effectively.
Mike
A lot of field trials...
Imagine you're a captain of a fire department and when it comes to updating your fleet, you're going to be very cautious. Add to the fact that Tesla vehicles catch fire for no apparent reason sometimes (despite the fact that conventionally fueled cars catch fire as well) and there may be difficulty to justify the Tesla. A Police car is easier to justify since they're out on patrol for potentially 100+ miles a day, so there is a significant fuel savings in a police car. A Fire Department would also have to conduct many tests and field trials for the new vehicle; considering the minimal benefit (there's not a lot of fuel savings).
You brought up a fantastic point! The sales platform at Tesla is not conducive for fleet sales. Currently a fleet buyer still needs to go through a dealer (dealer has the right to sell in that territory, manufacturers generally do not sell direct, except in the case of Tesla) but is able to negotiate attractive rates with the said dealer. There are manufacture support programs for fleet buyers too where the manufacture provides additional incentives to a fleet buyer through the dealership. Tesla has generally been very much a consumer purchase structure. There are taxi companies that have acquired Teslas, but generally Tesla doesn't have the traditional inroads into fleet sales yet.
Not a huge fan for electic propulsion. A lot of factors but here's one I keep thinking of. Here in California "they" are always trying to squeeze more money from us for electricity and
worse they always want to charge more for "peak" times of usage. So where does that take us when they've finally pushed everyone into an electric vehicle and all those folks need to charge at the same time?
No doubt the priciest-worst time to charge will end up being the same time for most folks who work. And when we all need that much juice can it really all come from eco friendly sources? As with a lot of this
eco madness I think it is actually more profit (often via subsidies) driven than anything else. Optics may matter more than goals. Even super clean fuels like natural gas are being demonized. I am in favor of
choices but wonder where this all leads. As far as the truck itself goes.. odd, interesting and certainly unique!
You're right, of course.
On the long run the so-called "electric mobility" will be a dead end, I'm convinced.
The future will be hydrogen technology, maybe…; but NOW industry and governments are pressing as much money as possible out of electric vehicles.
Just my thoughts.
Interesting article on that topic (german only, I'm sorry): https://www.ingolstadt-today.de/archiv/9/der-sinnlose-traum-von-der-elektrischen-zukunft-a-22935
(Try this Google translation: translate.google.de)
Greetings, Ron
