Lower than two years after its hyped-up debut, Tesla is making an aggressive, nearly determined, transfer to salvage the Cybertruck, a car broadly seen as one of many greatest busts in current automotive historical past.
Confronted with manufacturing woes, high quality management nightmares, and underwhelming gross sales, the corporate has added its polarizing truck to an enormous gross sales occasion, providing a strong incentive it has traditionally reserved for its most loyal prospects: a free switch of its $12,000 Full Self-Driving (FSD) software program.
It’s a shocking concession and a transparent sign that the corporate is keen to sacrifice a big income stream to get the angular, stainless-steel behemoths off of heaps and onto the street.
The supply, quietly added to Tesla’s “Present Provides” web page, permits current Tesla house owners who’ve already bought FSD to switch that functionality to a brand new Cybertruck, freed from cost. For years, FSD was locked to the car, not the proprietor. Making it transferable has been the one most requested function from Tesla’s loyal fanbase, and till now, the corporate had solely provided it for its high-volume Mannequin 3, Y, S, and X automobiles throughout temporary promotional intervals.
Including the Cybertruck to that record is a strategic gamble. On one hand, it’s a strong lure for the 1000’s of devoted Tesla house owners who is perhaps on the fence in regards to the unconventional truck. On the opposite, it’s an admission that the Cybertruck can’t promote by itself deserves.
The transfer comes amid a broader gross sales blitz as Tesla braces for the September 30 expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit score. The corporate is providing deep stock reductions and 10,000 free Supercharging miles throughout its lineup. However the Cybertruck’s inclusion within the FSD switch promotion is exclusive, concentrating on the one group of people that would possibly nonetheless have an interest: the Tesla devoted.
Since its launch, the Cybertruck has been stricken by issues. Early fashions had been criticized for inconsistent panel gaps, susceptibility to rust spots, and a number of software program glitches. Extra importantly, its radical design and excessive value level have failed to draw mainstream truck consumers, who proceed to flock to established fashions just like the Chevrolet’s Silverado EV, which leans right into a extra standard design.
Whereas Tesla doesn’t launch particular gross sales figures for the Cybertruck, business analysts and registration information counsel that deliveries have fallen far in need of preliminary projections. The truck is a uncommon sight on American roads, a far cry from the ever-present presence of the Mannequin Y or Mannequin 3. Within the second quarter of 2025, Tesla bought simply 4,306 Cybertrucks, down a staggering 50.8% from the 8,755 models it delivered throughout the identical interval final yr, in response to new information from Kelley Blue Guide.
By providing the FSD switch, Tesla is basically subsidizing the Cybertruck with its most worthwhile product. It’s a short-term resolution to a long-term drawback: how do you promote a car that the market appears to have rejected? For now, the reply seems to be leaning on the loyalty of current prospects and gifting away the household jewels to shut the deal. Whether or not it’s sufficient to show the tide for the beleaguered truck stays to be seen.
