(Bloomberg) — Sales of Tesla’s Cybertruck have been supported in recent months by Elon Musk’s other companies, an unusual arrangement that reinforces signs that the polarizing pickup truck is failing to appeal to mainstream consumers.
SpaceX, the rocket and satellite maker led by Musk, accounted for 1,279 — or more than 18% — of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the U.S. during the fourth quarter, according to registration data provided by S&P Global Mobility to Bloomberg News. The billionaire’s other ventures acquired another 60 vehicles during these months.
This means that almost one in five Cybertrucks registered in the period was delivered from one part of Musk’s vast business empire to another. And the purchases, which probably exceed US$100 million in value, continued this year.
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The numbers reinforce the extent to which consumer demand is weakening just two years after Tesla began delivering the electric pickup. Without these sales to other companies managed by Musk — which included xAI, Boring and Neuralink, in addition to SpaceX — Cybertruck registrations in the fourth quarter would have fallen 51%.
“Tesla is running out of buyers for the Cybertruck,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at consultancy AutoForecast Solutions.
Tesla, Musk, SpaceX, Boring and Neuralink did not respond to requests for comment. SpaceX acquired xAI in February.
Tesla is under increasing pressure to reverse declining sales across its entire lineup, facing the prospect of a third consecutive annual decline. Once the undisputed electric vehicle leader, the company was surpassed by China’s BYD as the world’s biggest seller of EVs last year.
Investors have largely ignored Tesla’s falling car sales as Musk refocuses the company toward futuristic goals, including robotaxis and humanoid robots. But these products are still far from becoming tangible lines of business, and shareholders’ patience appears to be running out. Since hitting an all-time high in mid-December, Tesla shares have lost a fifth of their value.
High expectations
The Cybertruck debuted to great fanfare in late 2023, diversifying Tesla’s lineup as a rugged vehicle to counter the sleek Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan, which represent the vast majority of the company’s car sales. Tesla was keen to compete in the lucrative US pickup truck market, dominated by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
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Musk predicted before the launch that the company would be manufacturing 250,000 Cybertrucks annually by 2025. He called it “the best product Tesla has ever made.”
From the beginning, however, there were warning signs. The Cybertruck’s angular design was divisive, and the flashy vehicle occasionally became the target of ridicule and vandalism as a backlash against Musk grew last year. The pickup was also more expensive than expected, with initial versions costing more than $100,000, well above the starting price of less than $40,000 first announced in 2019.
SpaceX’s first Cybertruck registrations began in October last year, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. Sales to companies run by Musk continued into 2026, with a further 158 in January and 67 in February.
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While financial terms of the sales between the companies were not revealed, the Cybertruck’s current starting price of around $70,000 suggests that SpaceX, xAI, Boring and Neuralink paid Tesla more than $100 million combined for the vehicles.
It’s not entirely clear what Musk’s other companies are doing with Cybertrucks, or why an artificial intelligence and social media company would acquire 50 of them.
Photos and videos have circulated online showing long rows of Cybertrucks parked on SpaceX properties in Texas. The pickup truck’s chief engineer posted on social media in October that SpaceX was replacing gasoline-powered support vehicles with pickup trucks. At least some are being used as security vehicles. EV news portal Electrek reported in December that SpaceX could ultimately buy around 2,000 Cybertrucks.
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While Tesla has given no indication that it would discontinue the Cybertruck, it is phasing out the Model X SUV and Model S sedan, its two oldest and slow-selling vehicles. Musk indicated the company may seek to boost fleet sales to commercial customers in response to questions about the Cybertruck’s uncertain prospects.
“Obviously there is a market there for cargo delivery,” he said in January during a Tesla earnings call. “There is a lot of freight that needs to be moved locally within a city, and an autonomous Cybertruck could be very useful for that.”
Disappointment in pickup trucks
The sales problems aren’t unique to the Cybertruck: Electric pickup trucks have been a failure within the U.S. EV market, which is largely stagnant.
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Ford recently decided to convert its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck into an extended-range hybrid vehicle. The Cybertruck was still the best-selling battery-powered pickup truck in the U.S. during the first quarter, despite a 45% drop, according to data from Cox Automotive.
Musk’s companies have long been interconnected through financial investments, business agreements and sometimes even shared personnel. xAI uses Tesla’s Megapack batteries and has integrated its Grok chatbot into the brand’s vehicles; Conference attendees in Las Vegas can ride Teslas through a tunnel built by Boring; Tesla and SpaceX are collaborating on a planned chip production project.
Still, it’s unusual for an automaker to offload significant volumes of a single model to a company affiliated with the same CEO. Automakers sometimes offer new incentives, lower prices or lease vehicles to employees when a model isn’t selling well.
“It’s a way to keep the factory running when retail demand isn’t equal to production,” said Tom Libby, automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
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