Article - With the Cybertruck, Tesla Faces Its Edsel Moment

[CyberGus]

I am absolutely sick and tired of the auto industry cranking out one vehicle after another that looks just like the the one before it and will look like the one after it.

Can you spot the one that's different?

Spoiler: ANSWER

Trick question, there's no Cybertruck shown.

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[AZCYBER]

You guys have no idea what you are talking about. Most cars are NOT body-on-frame. Most TRUCKS, however, are. How many Wall Street analysts own a car, much less a truck. The CT has specs that blow other trucks out of the water. And a body that doesn't rust and dent. Tesla will sell every CT it can make. Let's revisit CT sales in five years.

 

[Regenshire]

Of course. The title did not have a question mark at the end.
It is logical that the title would be interpreted as a statement not a question.
I don't think the lack of question mark was accidental.
The publisher know most will not read the article. The publisher wanted to mislead most people but later claim to the few that complained that they were not anti-Tesla.

The title and premise are there to get the click, and I think it is click baity. They do want you to read the article, if you dont click on it doesnt benefit them much.

I am not big on the premise of the article, but the article itself seems positive about the outlook of the cybertruck.

 

[CyberGus]

This whole thread is really such a Rorschach test

Looks like a Cybertruck to me

 

[CEB12]

Here's the full article from Barron's:

With the Cybertruck, Tesla Faces Its Edsel Moment

Tesla’s Avant-Garde Cybertruck is coming any day now. It’s the most important vehicle for the company since the 2017 introduction of its more affordable Model 3 electric vehicle.

The 3 helped usher in an era of growth, profits, and incredible stock gains for Tesla. The Cybertruck could do the same, or it could end up being Elon Musk’s Edsel.

The Edsel, named after Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford, is the notorious automotive failure, the one that stands out above the rest. It was more of a brand, like Pontiac or Saturn, than a single car. Ford Motor (F) launched a seven-model lineup in 1958. The company killed Edsel off in late 1959. Weak demand, weak reviews, weak customer reaction, all following weak product development processes, conspired to doom the nameplate.

Car buyers have been waiting for the oddly shaped Cybertruck since 2019. Now that it’s about to arrive, investors are wondering if the long-delayed pickup will be as big a flop.

It won’t be. Not by a long shot. Edsels never really found a market niche. They were large and launched during a recession and at a time when customers were beginning to look for more fuel-efficient options.

Price isn’t a barrier for Cybertruck either. It was designed to cost roughly $40,000 to $70,000. That was a price list set in 2019, however. Inflation has impacted everything. Still, the Cybertruck won’t be priced out of the mainstream truck market. New model year 2023 pickup trucks cost an average of about $64,000, Cox Automotive tells Barron’s. The average transaction price for a new 2023 F-150 Lightning is almost $87,000.

The market isn’t an issue, but what about the product? The Cybertruck will have new technology. It’s based on an “exoskeleton-based” design, says Elon Musk. That’s essentially a unibody design, explains Munro and Associates President Corey Steuben. Munro is a go-to source for manufacturing, design, and cost data for both auto investors and industry denizens.

Unibody isn’t very common. Most vehicles body-on-frame, which is exactly what it sounds like. The car body is dropped on a chassis. A unibody integrates the chassis and frame together, making it stronger and lighter. Lighter for an EV means more miles of range per unit of battery capacity.

The Cybertruck will be unique. While there are smaller truck models such as the Ford Maverick and Honda Motor (HMC) Ridgeline, large ones are typically body-on-frame. So Tesla is pushing the envelope on weight, strength, and efficiency. Cybertruck will also be able to accept one megawatt direct current charging, which means it will charge very fast with hundreds of miles of range delivered in minutes.

The market is there, the technology is solid, but what about that design? It looks like something out of a mediocre sci-fi film. Future Fund Active ETF (FFND) co-founder and Tesla shareholder Gary Black believes the design works and says it will serve as a rolling billboard for Tesla.

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management CEO Ross Gerber, who also owns the stock, agrees. “It’s super dope,” he says. “This is a game changer and [Tesla] will sell even more trucks once people see them on the road.”

As Tesla shareholders, both men are inclined to be bullish. Still, initial sales shouldn’t be a problem. Tesla has taken hundreds of thousands of preorders for the vehicle. Not all of those will become sales, but the order backlog should be more than enough to meet expectations for 2023 and 2024 deliveries.

Wall Street expects less than 10,000 Cybertrucks to be delivered in 2023 and fewer than 100,000 in 2024. That isn’t a high bar and Tesla can likely hit those numbers. The Cybertruck might be harder to make, but Tesla produced roughly 84,000 Model Ys in 2020, the first year of that vehicle. It made more than 400,000 Ys in 2021.

What Tesla should do after launching the Cybertruck is produce a more conventional-looking truck on the same tooling to expand Tesla trucks’ addressable market, says Black. It’s a sound idea. Tesla makes multiple cars on each of its platforms. It makes the S and X on the same platform and the 3 and Y on the same platform.

The 3 and the Y were smaller and cheaper than the S and X. After the Cybertruck and its companion product should also come a smaller truck, like a Ford Ranger. That would be Tesla’s global truck. The market for trucks outside the U.S. demands smaller vehicles. The Tacoma-sized Hilux from Toyota Motor (TM) is one of the best-selling trucks in the world.

Trucks are a good long-term opportunity for Tesla. Cybertruck won’t be anything like the Edsel.

I believe that CT will not flop and it will have a changing affect on the light truck industry. Its futuristic look will have a high appeal to people of the future. Although I'm a 81 year old conservative I love progress and the CT represents just that. Hope I'm around to see more of what's coming from TESLA and the competing copy cats

 

[Ogre]

Yeah… I’m edumacated on dat….

did you read the article? His point is the CT won’t be an Edsel

Poor title choice.

Like I said, Barons track record plus shit title === ogre don’t read it.

Considering the title gets 90% of the play, this is a low brow way for an editor to turn a positive story into a crappy headline.

 

[Ogre]

The last line of the article reads "Cybertruck won’t be anything like the Edsel."...

That would have been a good headline.

 

[cvalue13]

Let's revisit CT sales in five years.

honestly the most sensible thing you said

 

[TBONO]

Poor title choice.

Like I said, Barons track record plus shit title === ogre don’t read it.

Considering the title gets 90% of the play, this is a low brow way for an editor to turn a positive story into a crappy headline.

Sure title choice could be better

However, poor choice to comment without reading it

 

[PilotPete]

there’s no actual verification of 1.8M as far as I know? That’s a fan estimate

Musk/Tesla has only confirmed hundreds of thousands as far as I know?

So aren’t we witnessing … some journalistic accuracy, rather than “error”?

This whole thread is really such a Rorschach test

What IS significant is that there has never been a vehicle, EVER, with this may pre-orders. Another Tesla record. The CT beats the previous record holder by a long shot. Oh wait, the previous was the MODEL 3!

What the “market experts” don’t acknowledge (and most of the public and media) Tesla is no longer competing with the legacy automakers. They are in competition only with themselves. Be it pre-orders, new car deliveries, innovative designs, new manufacturing techniques, direct to consumer sales, online ordering, whatever. They are creating a new market structure, a new way of doing business, a new way to build a vehicle. And they have left everyone else in their dust. Dad always said “don’t judge yourself compared to everyone else, judge yourself compared to what you can do.” He was right, and Elon must have heard the same story and listened.

 

[Ogre]

Sure title choice could be better

However, poor choice to comment without reading it

Poor choice is defending shit journalism.

90% of readers never get past the headline and first paragraph. Running the story this way with that headline was not a mistake. The author might have turned over a balanced piece, the editor clearly had an agenda.

 

[Coolbreeze704]

Yes, you may be correct I’m not sure of the details of what exactly Tesla has communicated an exact numbers
But I think we’re saying the same thing that’s why I used the term potential error followed up by: He’s technically not wrong
as over 1 million and less than 2 million could still be stated, as hundreds of thousands probably more accurate than millions.

I can confirm they do have at least 4.

 

[Coolbreeze704]

Looks like a Cybertruck to me

Dual motor, frunk is open I see the pass through also.

Oh wait, I know I don't know anything but isn't that body on FRAME!!!

I love these leaked pics. Is the from @greggertruck?

 

[Ogre]

Dual motor, frunk is open I see the pass through also.

Oh wait, I know I don't know anything but isn't that body on FRAME!!!

I love these leaked pics. Is the from @greggertruck?

Ugh…

Looks like a Cybertruck to me

Ugh… not enough cup holders.

 

[Coolbreeze704]

Ugh…

Ugh… not enough cup holders.

Well that sucks. I am cancelling.

Get me a 1989 Caravan. That baby got some cup holders!!!

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