Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised that the Cybertruck would go into production this year. In fact, he’s also said that it would ramp production early in 2024 but one analyst sees a low ceiling for that move. If he’s right it could mean that the Cybertruck ends up being a halo flagship with intentionally low production numbers.
The Cybertruck is intentionally designed to be like nothing else on the market, whenever it does finally make it to the market that is. When that day comes, there’s no doubt that it’ll demand attention and have a road-going presence that’s uniquely its own. That’s where Morgan Stanley’s analyst Adam Jonas begins his foundation for the argument that Tesla might intentionally limit production of the pickup.
Here’s how Jonas frames it to StreetInsider: “One of the most interesting features of the truck is the lack of a Tesla emblem anywhere on its exterior. The truck itself is emblematic of the company and the risks it is willing to take to push the envelope and reinvent so many aspects of what it means to be an auto manufacturer. We feel the Cybertruck carries more value in a cultural/zeitgeist sense than in a direct economic sense.”
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He continued his statement to highlight how having a Tesla Cybertruck on every corner could, in its own way, dilute the image of the brand. “At the same time, we encourage our readers to ask themselves: how many Cybertrucks can roll up to a parent-teacher conference or youth soccer match at the same time before losing some of that indescribable… something?” he says.
As he rightly points out, Tesla is in a far different situation today than it was when it initially unveiled the Cybertruck. Back then, it had just begun to post a profit. Today, it’s coming off of a year when it made more than General Motors and Ford combined. Selling the Cybertruck in mass quantities isn’t something that it necessarily needs to do to continue its growth.
Keeping the wild-looking pickup as a flagship halo car would leave space for another smaller truck in the lineup to be the mainstream option without diminishing the presence that the Cybertruck holds in the mind of consumers and on the road. At the same time, it could take pressure off of Tesla to ramp to “mass production” as Musk has alluded to in the past.
