In This Article:
The Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck launch event took place on Thursday in Austin, Texas. Yahoo Finance spoke to experts across the industry to discuss all of the details from pricing to production. Here are the top three things you need to know.
1. Price (00:00:24)
Yahoo Finance's Brad Smith broke down the Cybertruck pricing for the three different modes. Smith said, "I think the pricing really caught a lot of people by surprise, considering that ... when they announced it in 2019 of what could potentially be mirroring perhaps an F-Series type purchase on the lower end, or at least mass market appeal for a truck in that same price range. This is not that. This is a luxury vehicle type of annexation that they've just slapped on with that type of price tag."
Ronald Jewsikow, Guggenheim Securities Vice President of Automotive Equity Research, broke down the pricing tiers and what it means for investors. Jewsikow said, "The pricing was a key debate coming in ... but ultimately the vehicles that are being delivered next year, $80,000 plus, is probably a much smaller market that what investors thought Tesla was initially attacking."
2. Demand (00:01:27)
Barron's Senior Writer Al Root discussed the uncertainty of what the market will be for the Cybertruck. Root said, "The Cyberbeast model starts at $100,000. That's not really a truck, that's sort of a luxury car. Pre-orders for these things, there's like a million pre-orders, but you only had to put a $100 down. It was fully refundable to get on the list. So we just don't know what demand will be like."
Tasha Keeney, ARK Invest Director of Investment Analysis & Institutional Strategies, remained optimistic regarding the demand for the Cybertruck. Keeney said, "Some people think this will be a niche vehicle platform. I don't think so ... I'd see more trouble for Ford (F) ahead as Cybertruck production rolls out."
3. Production (00:01:51)
"Wall Street expects about 1,500 of these to be delivered this year, 78,000 next year," Root said. "Tesla itself says we can't get to producing 250,000 a year on a run rate basis until at least 2025. So that's December 2025, they can make 40,000 of these a month."
Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management President and CEO Ross Gerber thinks that the Cybertruck is an "enthusiast vehicle," but he does not believe that will deter sales. Gerber said, "I don't think it's hard to sell 250,000 of these a year if they can make them. I think the challenge is going to be actually making them, not selling them."
Video highlights:
00:00:03 - Yahoo Finance's Diane King Hall