American automaker Tesla announced the start of mass production of the Cybertruck on Twitter, posting a photo of workers wearing safety vests and hard hats covering most of the car. When Musk first revealed the wedge-shaped truck prototype in November 2019, production was scheduled to begin in two years.
First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas! ? pic.twitter.com/ODRhHVsd0t
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 15, 2023
Musk moderated expectations about how quickly Tesla would ramp up production, telling shareholders at the company's annual meeting in May that the Cybertruck's radical design was causing problems. He said the body will be made of stainless steel, which can be expensive and difficult to machine and weld.
“It will be difficult to make the cost affordable because this is a new car, a new manufacturing method,” Musk said. “By and large, compared to the performance of all the other cars that we make, it will be small. But still very cool.”
Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner expects Tesla to deliver 2,000 Cybertrucks this year, a fraction of the 1.78 million vehicles he plans in total. In a June 26 report, he questioned whether the product would improve the company's profitability, citing the difficulty of optimizing production and the need for larger towing batteries.
"This could create an additional margin constraint in the second half year,” wrote Rosner, who rates Tesla shares as a buy with a target price of $260. The stock closed Friday at $281.38 and is up 128 percent this year.
However, the launch of the Cybertruck could establish Tesla as an EV contributor in one of the most profitable US market segments and compete with electric vehicles. pickup trucks from Ford Motor (FN) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O), both of which have produced models in limited quantities.
