Elon Musk says 'we dug our own grave' with the Cybertruck

Elon Musk said that Tesla "dug its own grave" with the Cybertruck, as he warned that it would take years for the company to ramp up production of the electric pickup.

Speaking on Tesla's Q3 earnings call on Wednesday, the Tesla CEO said that the Cybertruck's unique design meant the company faces immense challenges in scaling production, with Tesla aiming to produce a quarter of a million trucks a year by 2025.

"We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck," Musk said.

It's "one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while. And special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous," he added.

Musk said that he wanted to "temper expectations" for the electric truck's launch, which Tesla announced would be on November 30.

He warned that the challenges of scaling up production meant that it would likely be around 18 months before the Cybertruck is cash flow positive.

"I do want to emphasize that there will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with the Cybertruck and then making the Cybertruck cashflow positive — this is simply normal," he said.

"When you've got a product with a lot of new technology or any brand new vehicle program, especially one that is as different and advanced as the Cybertruck, you will have problems proportionate to how many new things you're trying to solve at scale," he added.

The launch of the Cybertruck comes at a crucial time for Tesla. Although the company dominates the EV market, its market share has slipped in recent years as competitors like Ford and Rivian expand their operations.

The Cybertruck is seen as vital for Tesla to fend off this burgeoning competition. First announced in 2019, the futuristic pickup truck was expected to ship in 2021, but has experienced several delays as Tesla grappled with the vehicle's unique design and the complexity of producing it at scale.

According to CNBC, Elon Musk sent an email to Tesla employees in August saying that the Cybertruck should be as precisely designed as a Lego brick, with measurements that could not vary by more than 10 microns. A micron is equivalent to one-thousandth of a millimeter.

Earlier versions of the pickup seen in the wild have been called out for scratching and finish issues by prospective buyers, as well as being fingerprint magnets because of their stainless steel body.

Despite this, demand for the Cybertruck is through the roof, according to Musk, who said on Wednesday that over one million people have reserved the truck.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.



IMO, best looking vehicle since the Edsel.

The dumbest thing I've ever seen from that entrepreneur by far.

Attached File

Attached File

Attached File

The thing is a monstrosity. Was bound to fail from the concept.

I think that says something. Considering the amount of stuff he cranks out.

If by that you mean an updated ugly as fuck Pontiac Aztek that tells everyone in the world how much the driver/owner likes getting pounded in the ass?

Sure.

Why the fuck do people think a 'truck' that looks like a 5yr old designed it so fucking good looking? At least make it look something like a truck, Rumbler-ish from the Dark Knight isnt gonna be easy to build.

GD hating it just means sales will exceed expectations and crush the competition.
I'm rooting for him.

I thought it looked real ugly.

Why was it so low in Jan of this year?  ($110)

This interview illustrates why Musk is successful.  He deals in reality.

Most of the companies I have worked for, faced with this kind of self inflicted wound, the owners and senior execs would steadfastly avoid any responsibility for setting unrealistic goals, continue to claim that solving the problems should be relatively easy to handle, and push the issue down to the mid level managers to solve.  When they fail, it's THEIR fault, fire and hire, rinse and repeat.

That thing looks like an El Camino fucked a DeLorean

Have you seen the Cybertruck?

I’m sure that means the world to Elon.    


However, you didn’t listen to anything He said.    

He can sell Millions today.    And lose money on each one.

But, he’s gonna make it up on Volume.

Yes, and I think the way it looks is partly why Elon feels the way he does about it lol.

Saw one in the wild yesterday, not too far from their factory outside Austin.

I feel like he had to have totally messed this up on purpose, I just can't figure out the 4d chess.

I’d buy one if I wanted or needed a truck. If you want an EV truck that looks like every other truck, get a Ford or GM.

As it is, I’ll probably buy a Model Y after it’s refreshed next year or in 2025.

I’m ready to try something new, especially I only drive local, and rarely 200 miles to the beach.

I’m tired of driving boring Hondas and Toyotas.

Has the Cybertruck not already launched?  I thought it had recently.  I saw a Cybertruck with other Tesla models on an car transport heading west out of Austin last week and assumed it meant it was in production.

Elon needs to add a black smoke blowing nut coal burning generator option for us.

Elon selling billions worth of shares to buy Twitter

Up 100% since then

I only bought $500 worth then

Exactly.




Keep telling yourself he’s going to lose money and make it up with volume.  Thats how he’s the richest guy on the planet.  Ok.  I guess you got the edge factor.  

Attached File

Oh look, masked idiots drooling over an idiotic truck.  

The damn thing is a turd.  


Attached File

Muh F150
Muh ‘Rado
Muh Sierra
Muh UAW
Muh ‘Merica

Agree, but the CT is still ugly.

He did admittingly vote for Biden, which stupidity will never be topped.

I think his wording was possibly lacking.  He could have said "we were a victium of our own success" - or something to that.  He does have a problem, way too many reservations to be met in a reasonable time at a reasonable ramp up cost.  To be profitable - he will have to focus on a profitable production ramp up.  That is going to piss off a lot of reservations.

The firearms industry - or more specifically the ammo industry runs into the same problem frequently it seems.  Scaling up production is very expensive and takes time.  By the time production is scaled up, will the demand still be there at a level that the production can be sold profitably.  We have seen almost countless boom/bust cycles.  You can either milk customers now - pissing off a lot of them, and loosing a lot of sales in the process.  Or try to make them happy and go bankrupt when there is salad days later.

For the last few years, F150 sales have been between 600k-800k in the US (which is it's largest market).  Ford wanted to introduce the Lightning - and initial demand was high.  To meet that demand, they released a doggie product - and now are having to shut down lines due to overproduction.  I can only assume, those are things Tesla does not want to imitate.  It would be much better for them in the long run to put out a working product at a sustainable production/sales rate.  But that will piss off people who are waiting.
---
As for the looks - I think it is a Tesla thing.  Look at the earlier Teslas, then compare that to the Model 3 and Y.  The early ones were designed to be easily recognizable.  They wanted that advertising.  The mass market sales now are not all that distinguishable than many other cars.  It would not surprise me if they do not already have a more conventional design for a truck planned for 5 years down the road.

Has Tesla operated at a loss YOY?

Wait till they find out stainless steel still oxidizes and the least scratch is going to stand out since it's against the grain of the steel and can't be painted/filled in.

A major ding would require a panel replacement I'm guessing if they make that available. Sounds cheap, or you could fit and weld it yourself which again sounds cheap.

There has to be some missing context around this claim of 10 microns.

The Rivian is a much more innovative truck vehicle that the general public isn’t repulsed by.

Yup.

Barf.

“Dug our own grave” was just a poor choice of words when he still intends to go forward and make this work.

I wouldn’t count him out yet.

Great. So Tesla's gonna go down the shitter, Elon will sell X to make ends meet, and whoever buys it will rename it back to Twitter and it'll become a propaganda machine for the DNC again.

I could build 25 million of those in my garage with a sheet metal brake.

Don't you buy no ugly truck.

Read between the lines of what he is saying.

If Elon is walking it back, you should heed that warning.

Airbus A380 of the EV world.

I ordered one

Don't like it, don't buy it

Does it look as bad in real life as it does on the web?

It seemed like a good idea at the time...all the progressives loved it.

I'm thinking aluminum panels (Ford) would be the same. Stainless and aluminum require specialized welding equipment and skills.

They sure look repulsive to me. Frontal view looks like some type of sucker fish.

They should stop calling it a truck.

And yet, tens of thousands of people are in line to buy one. It might not be anywhere near as successful as the F150, but it's not a complete flop. Yet.


One good thing about Tesla, and Musk, is that they are daring.

Local GM deal just got their 1st Hummer

I didn’t reply to the text.. I can’t imagine the markup they are asking.

Attached File
Attached File

Elon Musk has a problem discerning between reality and video games.

Sorry Elon, as much as you want it to be, life is not a CGI video game.