Reflections about the Cybertruck

There was a lot of talk about the Cybertruck, and after four years of waiting, the first units were handed over to customers on November 30. As always with Tesla, the event was streamed live.

Some found the event itself unexciting, at least compared to previous events. It was also criticized that Elon Musk had not announced any details about the range, and that those that were subsequently delivered were disappointing. More expensive and with less range than announced. One small highlight (which had already been shown on another model) was a drag race between the Cybertruck and a Porsche 911 (with a combustion engine), which ended with a small surprise.

The Cybertruck certainly stands out from all other pickup trucks. The shape, the choice of material, the innovations incorporated into it. And it polarizes. Some people love it, others find it hideous. The fact is: people are talking about it and everyone has an opinion. And that alone is worth its weight in gold from a marketing perspective.

Don’t forget that so-called U-distributions – i.e. people either love it or hate it, there’s no in-between – lead to better product sales than if opinions are evenly distributed. We already know this from online fashion websites such as ModCloth, for example, where customers choose from suggestions which items of clothing should be manufactured. The garments that sell best are not those that are best rated, but those that are most controversially discussed. Customers who are in favor of the piece and at the same time feel the massive headwind tend to go for it all the more and buy the garment almost out of defiance in order to make a statement.

In this respect, these controversial opinions could be a sign of potentially good sales figures for Tesla’s Cybertruck. The pre-orders, which are rumored to be as high as two million, also point to this.

Musk himself uses all the marketing tricks he has used in the past, in sentences such as “Tesla is in production hell” or “Tesla is digging its own grave with this”. But he also does crazy things – as we are used to from him. Just think of the flamethrower that he sold as a “Not-A-Flamethrower” for legal reasons.

While every other car manufacturer pays very close attention to how new vehicles are presented to the press, Musk empties the magazine of a Tommy Gun pointed at the Cybertruck and then lets it drive around dirty and dented in public. No styled video, no photos of the vehicle with special paint under flattering lighting, but he simply lets a truck drive around filthy and dented from bullets.

All of this makes every other pickup truck look like a “princess car”, as some Twitter users have compared it to. The Cybertruck definitely looks much more masculine, beefier, and – according to quite a few – more unnecessary than any other pickup truck.

Who will buy the Cybertruck is uncertain given the price. The retail price does not start at 40,000 dollars as announced, but at 50,000 dollars for the single-engine version, 80,000 dollars for the twin-engine version and 100,000 dollars for the three-engine version. The latter, named the Cyberbeast, accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour (0-96 km/h) in 2.7 seconds and covers the quarter mile in 11 seconds. The range is between 402 and 547 kilometers. A range extender has also been announced, which is nothing more than an additional battery pack that can be packed onto the trucks bed area. More details on the specifications, some of which have not yet been shared, can be found at Tesla.

Renowned design experts such as Hartmut Esslinger from FROG-Design have been critical of the exterior. In a LinkedIn post, he said quite candidly:

Tesla mastered to feed the media with sleek side-view PR-shots of its cyber muck, but I encountered this monster on the road, facing the ugliest behind of a vehicle ever. With brutally nailed together sheet metal with finger prints, and hostile edges – potentially deadly in case of collisions – this design proves that lots of money amplifies an already shitty taste.

OUCH! Similar statements have been made by other designers, but it is true that taste is debatable. I myself experienced the Cybertruck live for the first time a few weeks ago and must admit that I found it surprisingly beautiful and interesting. I must also add that I made a deposit for it myself when it was presented and have now received an invitation to order it. However, I would like to see it up close again and test drive it myself. I have to admit that I wouldn’t need a pickup, but buying a car is sometimes irrational and emotional.

But who is really the target audience for the Cybertruck? Is it the craftsmen and farmers who drive pickups in the USA, or rather city dwellers who will now have a taste for driving a pickup after SUVs? If it proves to be practical, then it will not only be existing pickup owners who will consider the Cybertruck, but also people who have not previously been attracted to pickups. And this means that sales figures could eclipse previous records in this vehicle category. We saw something similar with electric cars. The vehicles that were traded in for Model 3 and Y, such as Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, which cost half as much when new, showed that there was a large customer segment willing to spend twice as much for a Tesla, but not for models in the same price range as BMW 3 or Mercedes C-Class. And the Cybertruck could also tap into this segment.

I still remember the statements made by analysts in January 2010 when Apple introduced the iPad. The general consensus among analysts was that the iPad would not find any customers, because who would need such a thing that was looking for its niche between the iPhone and MacBook? Parents with children of pre-school and primary school age, on the other hand, were enthusiastic. Finally something to keep the little ones quiet on long journeys. And that’s exactly how I see the Cybertruck. It will be a statement that will attract traditional pickup drivers and open up new customer groups.

If the Cybertruck is a success – and I rate the chance of that at more than 50 percent – then there will be a number of imitators. Tesla has achieved this with all its vehicles so far. However, it remains to be seen whether this vehicle does not contradict Tesla’s mission – to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy – due to its monstrous dimensions and specifications.

Incidentally, Marques Brownlee has made a very good overview in a forty-minute video on the (almost) delivery model of the Cybertruck

One more thing: my new book (in German) Kreative Intelligenz: Wie ChatGPT und Co. die Welt verändern werden is now available. If you are still looking for a Christmas present for yourself or others and want to learn more about the hottest topic of the year, please order it now.

This article was also published in German.

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