With sales down is the CT going to become a Delorean

[NotMyTruck]

It’s a meaningless clickbait statistic. Sales are mostly down across all automakers with the exception of a few models across brands and fleet sales. I imagine your local carmax is looking pretty bloated right now. There was a dumb rush to buy cars during the tariff scare - but that has subsided from what I read.

On top, Average new auto loan rate is pushing 7%, and closer to 12% for a used vehicle. On above average credit. Unless automakers are offering heavily incentivized rates at absurd time intervals - shit ain’t movin.

And you don’t need a PhD from a local community college to figure this out.

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[YDR37]

The question also is how many 80-100k vehicles sell more than 10k units a quarter? I know the S and X used to sell that many but then Tesla made the 3 and Y and that undercut the sales.

The S and X did sell more than 10,000 units/quarter years ago, but that was back in the days before the 3 and Y and pretty much anything else. The S/X were basically the only EV games in town.

The Cybertruck topped 10,000 unit/quarter in 3Q 2024 and 4Q 2024, but that apparently wasn't sustainable. For 2Q 2025, all three high-priced Teslas (S/X/CT) put together just surpassed the 10,000 mark, at 10,394.

For comparison, Rivian's lineup (R1S SUV, R1T pickup, EDV van) sold 10,661 in 2Q 2025. Their vehicles start at about $70,000 but aren't eligible for the tax credit, so the effective pricing is similar to the S/X/CT. This is probably the first time that Rivian has outsold the high-end Teslas.

And keep an eye on GM's luxury EVs. In 2Q 2025, they sold 4,508 GMC Hummer EVs, 1,524 GMC Sierra EVs, 1,810 Cadillac Escalade IQs, and 1,744 Cadillac Vistiqs. Their high-priced EV sales are getting close to matching Tesla's as well.

 

[Willinak]

I believe the CT is a niche piece of hardware that has really strong appeal to that buyer that it fits. It has zero appeal to the general population, even if they need a PU for work/business. So, I am surprised that it is selling as well as it is given the current economic climate. If/when the economy turns around, and there’s more general acceptance of the design, then it could do well against the competition. my $0.02

 

[Cybertruck2024]

The S and X did sell more than 10,000 units/quarter years ago, but that was back in the days before the 3 and Y and pretty much anything else. The S/X were basically the only EV games in town.

The Cybertruck topped 10,000 unit/quarter in 3Q 2024 and 4Q 2024, but that apparently wasn't sustainable. For 2Q 2025, all three high-priced Teslas (S/X/CT) put together just surpassed the 10,000 mark, at 10,394.

For comparison, Rivian's lineup (R1S SUV, R1T pickup, EDV van) sold 10,661 in 2Q 2025. Their vehicles start at about $70,000 but aren't eligible for the tax credit, so the effective pricing is similar to the S/X/CT. This is probably the first time that Rivian has outsold the high-end Teslas.

And keep an eye on GM's luxury EVs. In 2Q 2025, they sold 4,508 GMC Hummer EVs, 1,524 GMC Sierra EVs, 1,810 Cadillac Escalade IQs, and 1,744 Cadillac Vistiqs. Their high-priced EV sales are getting close to matching Tesla's as well.

This is Tesla's bigger concern, other automakers selling luxury priced vehicles at a rate greater than them. Tesla used to do great numbers in this space, they don't anymore. When talking about EV trucks, the CT outsells the R1T and that is a bragging point, but the R1S is the flagship luxury EV on the market. Other things like Lucid Air outselling Model S isn't good news for Tesla.

What I think could turn things around would be taking all the tech from CT and putting it in either (1) a heavily refreshed Model S/X or (2) a brand new SUV. R1S shows people will pay up for a luxury SUV, the X just ain't cutting it anymore. MotorTrend picked steer by wire as the technology of the year, but that matters very little if the tech is in a vehcile most people will never touch. Imagine if steer by wire launched in the refreshed Y, it would have been massive. As-is, Tesla just doesn't seem interested bringing their tech to more of the fleet, or they are being very tight lipper about it.

If the S refresh had steer by wire and the Plaid improved the 0-60 by 0.1 seconds to a true < 2 second car, I would already own it. Tesla needs to show everyone again that no one does it better than them.

 

[YDR37]

When talking about EV trucks, the CT outsells the R1T and that is a bragging point, but the R1S is the flagship luxury EV on the market.

For 1Q 2025, Cox had the Cybertruck at 6,406 sales in the US, ahead of the R1S at 5,357. However, Tesla sales went down from 1Q 2025 to 2Q 2025, while Rivian sales went up. So it could be a different story when Cox releases their 2Q 2025 estimates later this month.

As-is, Tesla just doesn't seem interested bringing their tech to more of the fleet, or they are being very tight lipped about it.

Tesla may have decided that the only tech that really matters is Unsupervised FSD. So they may be working very hard on that, but not so much on anything else.

 

[Cybertruck2024]

For 1Q 2025, Cox had the Cybertruck at 6,406 sales in the US and the R1S at 5,357. However, Tesla sales were down for 2Q 2025, while Rivian sales were up. So it could be a different story when Cox releases their 2Q 2025 estimates later this month.

Q2 delivery numbers were out for Rivian today, 10,661. Recently around 70% of Rivians sold are R1S, so it's probably fair to estimate 3k-4k R1Ts and 7k-ish R1S sold. I am pretty sure that would make the R1S the most in demand luxury EV.

 

[HaulingAss]

Q2 delivery numbers were out for Rivian today, 10,661. Recently around 70% of Rivians sold are R1S, so it's probably fair to estimate 3k-4k R1Ts and 7k-ish R1S sold. I am pretty sure that would make the R1S the most in demand luxury EV.

The sad thing is Rivian has to sell them at a loss. They cost more to build than they can sell them for (the two quarters where they showed a gross profit were jerry-rigged with unusual (unsustainable) amounts of regulatory credits). If Rivian sold them for the cost of manufacture, they would sell in even smaller numbers. Anyone can take the best selling crown in a niche category if they are willing to sell them for a loss.

If you don't cherry pick single quarters, the Cybertruck is still the best-selling electric truck in the world, and likely to remain on top, using full year sales numbers, because the rest are selling at too large of a loss for them to ramp production any higher.

 

[pricedm]

Q2 delivery numbers were out for Rivian today, 10,661. Recently around 70% of Rivians sold are R1S, so it's probably fair to estimate 3k-4k R1Ts and 7k-ish R1S sold. I am pretty sure that would make the R1S the most in demand luxury EV.

Exactly why Tesla needs to make the CyberSUV

 

[Cybertruck2024]

Exactly why Tesla needs to make the CyberSUV

Too bad Tesla already said it isn't happening. In an investor presentation it was confirmed no more stainless steel vehicles.

I wonder how hard it would be to use the same production line, but have a more traditional body full size 3 row SUV, with all of CT's guts. Seems like that would at least move R1S numbers.

 

[charliemagpie]

Tesla can boost Cybertruck sales by:


Increasing production, reducing the cost per unit.
Lowering the retail price
Optimising battery range - it's coming, I think.
Selling in more countries, especially right-hand-drive markets like Australia.

In addition, waiting for interest rates to come down, sensible to pivot to other priorities. New Models, unboxed production, FSD, Robotaxi, Optimus.

I guess the genius employees are busy as hell.

 

[SCTesla]

The sad thing is Rivian has to sell them at a loss. They cost more to build than they can sell them for (the two quarters where they showed a gross profit were jerry-rigged with unusual (unsustainable) amounts of regulatory credits). If Rivian sold them for the cost of manufacture, they would sell in even smaller numbers. Anyone can take the best selling crown in a niche category if they are willing to sell them for a loss.

If you don't cherry pick single quarters, the Cybertruck is still the best-selling electric truck in the world, and likely to remain on top, using full year sales numbers, because the rest are selling at too large of a loss for them to ramp production any higher.

The F150L is in 2025. That's 2 quarters

 

[Mini2nut]

The VW Scout Terra will be entering a low volume BEV pickup market in 2027.

 

[lrpena]

So that’s about 20,000 per year roughly the same as F-150 Lightning sales. The issue is, people who actually use pickup trucks aren’t the demographic for EVs, at least not yet.

 

[pla]

I believe the CT is a niche piece of hardware that has really strong appeal to that buyer that it fits. It has zero appeal to the general population, even if they need a PU for work/business. So, I am surprised that it is selling as well as it is given the current economic climate. If/when the economy turns around, and there’s more general acceptance of the design, then it could do well against the competition. my $0.02

I live in a rural area and everyone has a pickup truck. The CT gets a ton of positive attention, everywhere I drive it people want to look at it up close and talk about it.

A few observations:
1. Most people assume it is more expensive than it is. Everyone has only seen that $100k+ number, not the $80k AWD (which is what I have).
2. Most people don't even know it's electric and had never given the slightest thought to an electric truck. Not sure what that means, but it is interesting.
3. The stuff that really wins people over is outlets in the truck, the tonneau cover, and the air suspension.
4. The stuff that catches people's eye is the look, the rear-wheel steering, the minimal interior.

I have had at least 7 people tell me they want to buy one. Cost is definately an issue, but also the perception of cost.

 

[cyberjeff25]

Why not give up on the hard to maintain stainless steel body and press the body panels out of aluminum instead. And then paint the ct already. Truth is the stainless steel always looks like crap and it is impossible to keep the exterior looking clean. Most owners eventually bite the bullet and wrap the CT like I did. The stainless body is likely heavier- reducing range - and more costly to produce than aluminum or even better a steel body. With a less expensive body material the price could be reduced infixing more buyers and we have to be honest- the vast majority of ct owners and non- owners like the look of the wrapped ct more than the ugly splotchy stainless steel body so sales would increase if the ct was painted like most cars.

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