Cybertruck: Tesla wants to forget the disaster with a smaller model, “really useful”

There are launches that mark. And others that are fading. Cybertruck already belongs to the second category. Presented in 2019 as an aesthetic and industrial rupture, Elon Musk’s electric pick-up was supposed to embody Tesla’s radicality, its ability to dictate the form as much as the function.

A year after the start of its marketing, the assessment is less flamboyant: sales far below expectationsrepeated technical defects, and a model absent from major international markets. Behind the scenes, another project takes shape: a more compact, more sober pick-up. Less spectacular, perhaps, but more anchored in reality.

Tesla facing the Cybertruck dead end: a more modest pick-up to make the rest forget

Originally, the ambitions were immense. Tesla promised 250,000 vehicles produced each year, or even double in the long term. The Austin factory, Texas, has been sized accordingly. However, the figures are there: in 2024, barely 20,000 units were delivered. Only in the United States. Because cybertruck is neither approved in Europe, nor proposed in China. Its weight, its width, its extraordinary design makes it incompatible with local regulations and uses. A product designed to impress, which does not find its place.

The difficulties are not only logistics. In March 2025, Tesla had to recall nearly 46,000 copies for a fixing defect On a roof room. In question, an inadequate glue, which could lose its grip in a cold environment. This recall is added to other reports related to reliability and finish. The singular industrial object gradually slides towards the symbol of a poorly dimensioned project.

It is in this context that Lars Moravy, vice-president of engineering, spoke of another path. A smaller pick-up, designed for simpler uses, could emerge. No prototype has been shown, no schedules announced, but the design teams are at work. This new vehicle would be in The Robotaxis ecosystem that Tesla continues to developmixing transport of goods and people.

This discreet repositioning also highlights a more global slowdown. Since the launch of Model Y in 2020, Tesla has released only one new model: Cybertruck. Several vehicles yet announced, a new roadster, a family SUV, an affordable model or a van, have not emerged. The priority given to the promises of autonomy has obviously relegated the diversification of the range to the background. Meanwhile, actors like Waymo, Baidu or Cruise consolidate their offers on the ground.

In parallel, Tesla has just introduced in China an elongated version and six places of Model Y, called Model YL. A more pragmatic response, but reserved for a single market. Here again, nothing indicates a product vision thought on a global scale.

So, will this future more modest pick-up mark a turning point? Maybe. Not a denial, but an adjustment. An attempt to reconnect with a form of realism, where the Cybertruck was only a detour.

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