Expected Cybertruck pricing / price at launch?

[Ogre]

Missing the point here.

The whole reason Tesla didn’t launch a Supertruck at Supertruck prices was to cut the air from Ford and GM ICE truck sales. Tesla selling an electric truck with decent range for $50k will completely choke out ICE truck sales.

Without the hugely profitable truck sales, Ford and GM have no lifeline.

This isn’t Tesla being generous, it’s Tesla destroying the competition.

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[Crissa]

It works for Gucci, and Rolex, and Rolls Royce, and Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany, etc.

None of those change the world. The latter just got sold again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_&_Co.

-Crissa

 

[jerhenderson]

Missing the point here.

The whole reason Tesla didn’t launch a Supertruck at Supertruck prices was to cut the air from Ford and GM ICE truck sales. Tesla selling an electric truck with decent range for $50k will completely choke out ICE truck sales.

Without the hugely profitable truck sales, Ford and GM have no lifeline.

This isn’t Tesla being generous, it’s Tesla destroying the competition.

surgically

 

[SolarWizard]

This isn’t Tesla being generous, it’s Tesla destroying the competition.

destroying the competition isn’t accelerating the worlds transition to renewable energy

 

[SwampNut]

It may or may not be. Destroying the incumbents who want to keep all of the ICE-related profits and old-style games *may* accelerate EVs.

 

[jerhenderson]

destroying the competition isn’t accelerating the worlds transition to renewable energy

it forces business to adapt. Legacy wasn't going to go willingly. to survive they have to.

 

[Ogre]

destroying the competition isn’t accelerating the worlds transition to renewable energy

It does so more quickly than allowing them to kick the can down the road over and over again.

GM and Ford have both talked about vague goals of hitting 50% electrification by 2030 or 2035 with trucks going last. Tesla is forcing their hands. They can move quicker or roll over and die.

 

[jerhenderson]

It does so more quickly than allowing them to kick the can down the road over and over again.

GM and Ford have both talked about vague goals of hitting 50% electrification by 2030 or 2035 with trucks going last. Tesla is forcing their hands. They can move quicker or roll over and die.

yep..... when I bought my 2015 Wrangler, Ford was promising an electric truck soon.... and then they screwed the pooch until Tesla threatened their very survival. I have no sympathy for any of the previous car manufacturers. to quote Emperor Palpatine, they are paying for their lack of vision.

 

[Bonkers Almighty]

Offering CyberTruck at lower costs would do nothing towards getting the world off fossil fuels any quicker. Tesla is production constrained. Lower prices will not sell more cars. If they were only focused on delivering more vehicles, the best thing they could do would be to sell the first 100 or so CyberTrucks for $1M. Use that profit (along with the ~$20B cash they hold) to build a few dozen more GigaFactories. Sell the next few 1000 for $500K, and repeat that trend until supply mirrors demand. Tesla shouldn't pull any demand levers until demand warrants it.

Ford and GM dealers who sold Lightnings and Hummers for double the MSRP did it because there were customers who would pay it. The windfall from these high margin sales didn't help Ford or GM to build more factories, they helped some hometown dealership owner buy a new boat.

Precisely my point. Right now, Tesla needs big profit margins because, unlike everyone else, they need to build about 15 more Gigafactories. They are still have vastly more demand than they can meet.

It is at least conceivable that Tesla offers a massive price drop, but logically that massive drop comes after production is scaled to fully meet demand.

 

[charliemagpie]

If legacy dies, there will be another to take over. Perhaps employing even more people. Maybe even trying to be the best.

This is the country of supply and demand; I don't understand the fuss of keeping ossified businesses alive.

 

[Crissa]

Precisely my point. Right now, Tesla needs big profit margins because, unlike everyone else, they need to build...

That's the thing. They all need to build more factories. Old factories are not going to cut it.

-Crissa

 

[Bonkers Almighty]

It works for Gucci, and Rolex, and Rolls Royce, and Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany, etc. And there are many examples of brands that took their products down market as the brand began to lose its luster. Cadillac started offering lower priced models to draw in new customers. Mercedes has done it too. Clinique, Ralph Lauren, Vidal Sassoon.

My point is that it doesn't help a company to succeed in its primary mission to if they squander away profits while they are hugely desired and can't make enough to satisfy the demand.

This also misses the point. Tesla's mission IS NOT to become the eternal luxury brand accessible to only the rich and the famous. Their mission is to eliminate ICE vehicles and speed up the transition to sustainable energy.

At the moment, they are trying to rapidly ramp production. This means using their oversized profit margins to build more Gigafactories, and the like. But it's not obvious that they shouldn't drop their prices now instead of later, to make their vehicles attainable for the masses. The move to lower prices WILL HAPPEN. It's just a choice between doing it now vs later.

Starting the Cybertruck at $50 certainly would panic the competition, and change the perception that "Teslas are too expensive. Only rich people can afford an EV."

 

[Crissa]

This has been repeatedly shown to be untrue.

They offered it for almost two years.

-Crissa

 

[Ogre]

Everyone who reserved a Model 3 expecting to pay $35,000 was able to do so.

You continue to pass on the lie that they were not able to.

Yet you have the gall to call Tesla deceitful? Shameful.

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