--- title: "Tesla Cybertruck demand is in doubt! Nearly one-fifth of sales rely on \"insiders supporting the scene\"" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/282992337.md" description: "Tesla's Cybertruck sales are supported by other companies under Musk, indicating that the model has failed to attract ordinary consumers. According to data, among the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the fourth quarter of last year, SpaceX accounted for 1,279 units, exceeding 18%. These procurement transactions could exceed $100 million and are still ongoing. The starting price of the Cybertruck is approximately $70,000, indicating that Musk's companies have paid a substantial amount to Tesla" datetime: "2026-04-16T11:42:36.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/282992337.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282992337.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/282992337.md) --- # Tesla Cybertruck demand is in doubt! Nearly one-fifth of sales rely on "insiders supporting the scene" According to the Zhitong Finance APP, in recent years, the procurement of Tesla (TSLA.US) electric pickup Cybertruck by other companies under Elon Musk has supported the sales of this model to some extent. This unusual arrangement further indicates that this highly controversial electric pickup has failed to attract ordinary consumers. According to registration data provided by S&P Global Automotive, among the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the United States in the fourth quarter of last year, 1,279 were accounted for by SpaceX, the rocket and satellite manufacturer led by Musk, making up over 18%. Other businesses owned by the billionaire purchased an additional 60 vehicles during the same period. This means that nearly one in five Cybertrucks registered during that period was delivered within Musk's vast business empire. The value of these procurement transactions could exceed $100 million, and this purchasing behavior has continued into this year. Photos and videos circulating online show rows of idle Cybertrucks parked at the SpaceX facility in Texas. The chief engineer of the pickup project stated on social media last October that SpaceX is replacing fuel-supported vehicles with these vehicles. At least some of them are being used for security purposes. The electric vehicle news site Electrek reported last December that SpaceX may ultimately procure about 2,000 Cybertrucks. According to S&P Global Automotive data, SpaceX first registered Cybertrucks in October of last year. Sales to Musk's companies will continue until 2026, with 158 vehicles registered in January and 67 in February of this year. Although the specific financial terms of these transactions between the companies have not been disclosed, the current starting price of about $70,000 for the Cybertruck means that SpaceX, xAI, Boring, and Neuralink have collectively paid Tesla over $100 million for these vehicles. It remains unclear how Musk's other companies are using these Cybertrucks, and why an artificial intelligence and social media company would procure 50 Cybertrucks. This data highlights that consumer demand has significantly weakened just two years after Tesla began delivering this electric pickup. Without these orders from Musk's other companies—besides SpaceX, including xAI, Boring Co., and Neuralink—the registration volume of Cybertruck in the fourth quarter of last year would have declined by 51%. Sam Fiorani, vice president of global automotive forecasting at consulting firm AutoForecast Solutions, bluntly stated: "Tesla's Cybertruck is losing buyers." ![12.png](https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://img.zhitongcaijing.com/image/20260416/1776338975543702.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg) SpaceX "contributed" to the recent registration volume of Cybertruck. Tesla may face the prospect of a third consecutive year of declining annual sales. The company is under increasing pressure to reverse the overall decline in sales across its product line. Once the undisputed leader in the electric vehicle industry, Tesla was surpassed by China's BYD last year, losing its position as the world's top seller of electric vehicles. Against the backdrop of intensified competition in the electric vehicle market and changes in the policy environment, Tesla's first-quarter delivery performance fell short of expectations, marking one of the poorest sales quarters in recent years. Data shows that Tesla's global deliveries in the first quarter of 2026 were 358,000 units, below the market expectation of 372,000 units, marking the second consecutive quarter that Tesla failed to meet Wall Street expectations. Although there was still a year-on-year growth of 6.3%, when excluding the low base effect from last year's Model Y production adjustments, this quarter's delivery volume is at its lowest level since mid-2022. Investors have largely overlooked the issue of declining Tesla vehicle sales, as Musk is shifting the company's strategic focus towards future technologies such as autonomous taxi services and humanoid robots. However, traditional automotive business remains Tesla's main source of cash, and the company's developments in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and robotics are still quite far from becoming truly scalable commercial businesses. Investor patience also seems to be waning. Since hitting an all-time high in mid-December last year, Tesla's stock price has fallen by about one-fifth. The Cybertruck made a high-profile debut at the end of 2023, adding a model that emphasizes a sense of power to Tesla's product lineup, differentiating it from the streamlined Model Y SUV and Tesla Model 3 sedan, which contribute the majority of the company's sales. Musk has predicted that Tesla will produce 250,000 Cybertrucks annually by 2025. He also claimed that this vehicle is Tesla's best product ever. Tesla hopes to enter the lucrative U.S. pickup truck market with the Cybertruck, a market long dominated by Ford Motor Company (F.US), General Motors (GM.US), and Stellantis (STLA.US). However, there have been some warning signs from the beginning. The Cybertruck's angular design has sparked controversy. During last year's rising opposition due to Musk's excessive political involvement, this highly publicized model occasionally became a target for ridicule and vandalism. Additionally, the vehicle's price is higher than expected, with the initial version priced over $100,000, far exceeding the initial promotional price of under $40,000 in 2019. While Tesla has not indicated plans to stop producing the Cybertruck, the company is gradually phasing out the slow-selling Model X SUV and Tesla Model S sedan—its two oldest models. Regarding the uncertain prospects for the Cybertruck, Musk hinted that the company might increase fleet sales aimed at commercial customers. He stated during Tesla's earnings call in January this year, "Clearly, there is demand in the freight delivery market. There is a lot of local freight that needs to be completed within cities, and an autonomous Cybertruck could be very useful in this regard." It is worth mentioning that the sales difficulties are not unique to the Cybertruck. In the overall stagnant U.S. electric vehicle market, electric pickups have performed poorly. Ford recently decided to transform its electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, into a range-extended hybrid model. According to Cox Automotive data, despite a 45% drop in sales, the Cybertruck was still the best-selling all-electric pickup in the U.S. in the first quarter. For a long time, companies under Musk have been interconnected through financial investments, business collaborations, and even personnel sharing. For example, xAI uses Tesla Megapack batteries and has integrated its Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles. In Las Vegas, attendees can ride in Tesla vehicles through tunnels built by Boring. Tesla and SpaceX are also collaborating on advancing chip production projects. However, it is rare for an automaker to "digest" a large volume of sales of a particular model to an affiliated company controlled by the same CEO. When a model does not sell well, automakers typically promote sales by offering new incentives, lowering prices, or leasing vehicles to employees. Tom Libby, an automotive analyst at S&P Global, stated, "When retail demand cannot match production, this is a way to keep the factory running." Additionally, some analysts point out that SpaceX's continued procurement of Cybertrucks amid weak retail demand is an important marginal support for Tesla's "Cybertruck delivery scale expectations/inventory and sentiment." If SpaceX successfully goes public with the largest IPO in history and continues to use the funds raised to purchase expensive Cybertrucks, it could significantly boost Tesla's expected price-to-earnings ratio and mid-term performance fundamentals. In particular, if SpaceX proves that the Cybertrucks it procures have important uses in future large space projects, such as the Cybertruck jointly updated and iterated by SpaceX and Tesla potentially playing a significant role in major lunar transport missions, the Cybertruck could become a "super bull market narrative" for Tesla comparable to the Model 3/Y level ### Related Stocks - [TSLA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLA.US.md) - [TSL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSL.US.md) - [TESL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TESL.US.md) - [TSLL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLL.US.md) - [TSLR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLR.US.md) - [TSLG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLG.US.md) - [TSLT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLT.US.md) - [TSDD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSDD.US.md) - [TSLQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLQ.US.md) - [09366.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09366.HK.md) - [07766.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07766.HK.md) - [07366.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07366.HK.md) ## Related News & Research - [BREAKINGVIEWS-Discount Tesla could be a painful reality check](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282340169.md) - [Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Trims Stake in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282962297.md) - [BCS Wealth Management Buys 1,834 Shares of Tesla, Inc. $TSLA](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282955447.md) - [Tesla Surpasses 10,000 Customers in Singapore Following Breakout Year](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283024261.md) - [Watershed Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282704281.md)