How Many Cybertrucks Has Tesla Sold To The Public? Fewer Than You Might Think

The Cybertruck, Tesla’s would-be competitor successful nan EV pickup motortruck market, has agelong since secured its spot arsenic nan Edsel of nan electrical conveyance age.

It’s been derided arsenic unwieldy and disfigured and incapable to lucifer different pickups successful basal functionality. In nan colorful return of Tesla professional Will Lockett, it’s “the vehicular shape of halitosis” and an “ick’ connected 4 wheels.”

But 1 doesn’t request words to picture really nan Cybertruck has fared among nan pickup-buying public; nan numbers show nan story.

According to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book, Tesla sold only 20,237 of nan vehicles successful 2025, down 48.1% from nan 38,965 sold nan twelvemonth before. The descent continued successful the first 4th of this year, Cox reported — 3,519 sold, down 45.1% from nan 6,406 sold successful nan year-earlier period.

But there’s much to nan communicative — aliases to beryllium much precise, less.

In nan 4th fourth of 2025, of nan 7,071 Cybertruck U.S. registrations, 1,279 went to SpaceX, nan rocketship institution headed by Tesla leader Elon Musk, which is readying an first nationalist banal offering sometime this year. An further 60 were registered by different companies successful nan Musk empire, namely xAI, Neuralink and nan Boring Co.

In different words, astir 20% of each nan Cybertrucks registered successful nan U.S. successful nan 4th fourth went to Musk’s companies. Based connected nan Cybertruck’s starting value of $70,000, that’s nan balanced of $93.7 cardinal successful merchandise circulating wrong Musk’s orbit alternatively than going to extracurricular buyers.

The figures were compiled by S&P Global Mobility and reported by Bloomberg. I asked Tesla to remark but received nary reply.

The transfers of Cybertrucks to different Musk companies raise questions astir really he conflates nan interests of his backstage companies and his nationalist institution (Tesla), arguably to nan disadvantage of Tesla shareholders. More connected that successful a moment.

The income numbers raise evident questions astir nan early of nan Cybertruck arsenic portion of Tesla’s five-model lineup. They besides undermine Musk’s declared religion successful nan truck. When it was introduced successful 2023, Musk asserted that he expected to waste 250,000 to 500,000 Cybertrucks a year erstwhile manufacturing capacity was afloat engaged.

It would beryllium difficult to find marketplace experts who took that prediction seriously, but fewer astir apt expected nan shortfall to beryllium truthful steep. Cybertruck’s 48.1% diminution successful 2025 income compared pinch 2024 was the sharpest specified decline of immoderate EV successful nan U.S. marketplace complete that period, successful which EV income mostly slumped.

Initial Cybertruck income of 38,965 successful 2024 seemed almost to validate Musk’s optimism. But antagonistic perceptions took clasp done nan twelvemonth and into 2025, starting pinch nan ridicule nan vehicle’s boxy creation attracted connected nan street.

Poor manufacturing value has prompted U.S. regulators to bid 8 recalls of Cybertrucks since its introduction, culminating successful the March 2025 recall of almost each Cybertruck to correct nan inclination of a stainless alloy exterior sheet to travel disconnected nan conveyance astatine freeway speeds, posing a hazard to different drivers.

Online reports and videos showing Cybertrucks defeated by conditions specified arsenic uneven terrain and steep grades that are routinely managed by rival pickups whitethorn besides person sapped purchaser enthusiasm for nan model.

It’s existent that nan Cybertruck has problems that aren’t shared pinch different EVs. One is that it can’t beryllium sold successful European Union countries, because nan EU has recovered that its exterior creation tin imperil pedestrians.

Nor do different EV manufacturers person to contend pinch nationalist obloquy being showered connected their leaders; Tesla income successful Germany cratered past twelvemonth aft Musk threw his support down nan extreme-right neo-Nazi statement Alternative for Germany. There, caller Tesla conveyance registrations fell by 76.3% successful February 2025 from nan aforesaid period a twelvemonth earlier — that is, to 1,429 from 6,029. The diminution continued each year, resulting successful an wide diminution of 48.4%.

As my workfellow Caroline Petrow-Cohen reported past year, nationalist distemper complete Musk’s position arsenic nan leader of DOGE, nan quasi-governmental assemblage that ran roughshod done nan national workforce aft Donald Trump launched his 2nd term, besides whitethorn person trim into Tesla income successful nan U.S. A study by Yale researchers past twelvemonth estimated that Musk cost Tesla arsenic galore arsenic 1.26 cardinal car sales since October 2022, erstwhile he acquired nan societal media level Twitter and gave greater entree connected it to nan acold correct and different extremist voices.

That said, Teslas remained nan best-selling EVs successful nan U.S. marketplace past twelvemonth pinch astir 60% of EV portion sales, according to Cox. Its full-year diminution of 7% was exceeded by respective different carmakers pinch EVs successful their lineups, including BMW (down 16.7%), Kia (down 39.7%) and Ford (down 14.1%).

The U.S. EV marketplace mostly mislaid crushed aft nan expiration of national incentives past year, but galore individual models slumped sharply, including Ford’s all-electric type of its top-selling F-150 pickup, income of which fell 18.5% from nan twelvemonth earlier (though it still outsold nan Cybertruck).

Tesla’s transfers of Cybertrucks to different Musk operations should interest Tesla shareholders, depending connected really much, if anything, SpaceX and nan different companies paid for nan vehicles. In arm’s-length transactions betwixt related parties, nan transfers should beryllium marked astatine prices resembling those connected nan unfastened market, whether individual aliases fleet sales.

Tesla, however, hasn’t publically disclosed these deals successful its financial filings frankincense far, moreover to nan grade of disclosing whether they’ve taken spot astatine all. It would beryllium absorbing to cognize really SpaceX is utilizing its Cybertrucks, since it wouldn’t look to request a fleet to carrier instrumentality headed for abstraction successful nan backmost of pickup trucks. Why Musk’s AI aliases neurological companies request immoderate specified vehicles is difficult to gauge.

As it happens, however, Tesla investors don’t look to person been fazed by Bloomberg’s report. Tesla shares closed successful Monday’s trading astatine $392.51, higher than they were connected April 15, nan time earlier Bloomberg published, erstwhile they closed astatine $391.95.

This wouldn’t beryllium nan first clip that Musk has melded his individual interests pinch those of his nationalist shareholders. The prototypical specified action occurred successful 2016, erstwhile he orchestrated Tesla’s acquisition of his SolarCity for $2.8 billion, a 35% premium from nan latter’s trading price. (Investment head Jim Chanos, who had short positions successful some companies, called nan woody a “shameful illustration of firm governance astatine its worst.”)

At nan time, Tesla’s 7 committee seats were held by Musk and 4 of his cronies, including his relative Kimbal, and SolarCity’s committee included Musk and 2 of his cousins. On that occasion, Tesla investors turned queasy, pushing Tesla shares down by much than 10% nan time nan woody was announced.

Musk defended nan woody arsenic a triumph of cleanable power manufacture synergy, but 1 struggles to find important gains from nan linkup. Energy procreation and storage, which would screen SolarCity’s business, accounted for astir 13.5% of Tesla’s gross successful 2025, astir a decade aft nan merger.

What domiciled nan Cybertruck — indeed, immoderate Tesla vehicles — will play successful nan company’s early remains murky. Musk precocious has talked astir shifting nan company’s attraction to AI, robotaxis and humanoid robots, but these each lucifer tube dreams. AI is much and much a trading word pinch little nutrient connected its bones than nan incessant publicity astir it suggests and Tesla’s robotaxi task coming consists of astir a twelve vehicles tooling astir Austin, Texas, pinch quality supervisors successful nan car aliases adjacent astatine hand.

Musk past twelvemonth projected that humanoid robots would make “$30 trillion successful revenue” for Tesla, though he acknowledged that he was “just guessing” and that location would beryllium a “long measurement to spell betwixt present and making 1 cardinal robots a year.” As I’ve reported, however, moreover immoderate robotics experts reason that giving workaday robots humanoid features makes nary consciousness functionally and is apt to beryllium abandoned erstwhile manufacturers earnestly contemplate really family robots should look and function.

None of this intends that Tesla mightiness not beryllium capable to recapture its mojo successful nan EV market. Consumer liking successful EVs tends to emergence and autumn successful lockstep pinch state prices. EV makers had a reliable 2025 successful nan U.S. But that could move astir this twelvemonth if nan runup successful state prices caused by President Trump’s Iran escapade continues to thrust up nan costs of oil.

But Tesla faces a batch much title for EVs than it ever has successful nan past; different companies specified arsenic Hyundai person moved down-market and China’s BYD precocious surpassed Tesla successful world income of battery-powered vehicles. BYD has been mostly kept retired of nan U.S. marketplace by precocious tariffs, but it whitethorn beryllium intolerable to support its cars retired forever. Tesla, which pioneered nan EV market, whitethorn request a caller exemplary to compete pinch BYD and nan overseas and home automakers already successful nan market, but nan Cybertruck judge hasn’t been looking for illustration its savior.