Tesla’s Cybertruck is said to have been “reduced to an object of universal scorn and derision,” the Guardian reported Wednesday. Concerns have been raised over the Cybertruck’s ability to sustain emergencies, amid tech billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk’s political alignment with President Donald Trump.
The Guardian article written by reporter Andrew Lawrence notes that the Cybertruck was touted as “apocalypse-proof.” “Since Musk’s hard-right turn, however, the Cybertruck’s design has gone from aesthetically polarizing to politically so,” it adds.
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“Despite being the world’s top selling EV pickup, Cybertruck sales are still so poor that the company doesn’t even bother reporting them – but record high inventory and steep depreciation curves give the game away,” per the Guardian.
“Quietly, Tesla shifted marketing strategies for the Cybertruck, pivoting away from the Martian imagery to more classic pickup truck iconography – but it’s too little, too late, and now just gaslighting the public,” Lawrence wrote in the article.
The reporter notes that Tesla’s board chair made $198m as he unloaded the company’s stock amid falling profits.
“If anything, the Cybertruck becoming the Titanic of cars is the fate we actually should’ve prepared for. History tells us anytime a vehicle is touted as future-proof, it’s all but doomed to become a monument to unchecked hubris.”
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In March, Ross Gerber — one of the earliest investors in the Tesla electric vehicle company — called on Musk to step down from his role as chief executive.
Meanwhile, a Foreign Policy piece published Wednesday said Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has failed completely. “The abject failure of DOGE as a cost-cutting exercise is starting to make Musk look like a tool for other people’s agendas—in particular, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), one of the most powerful behind-the-throne positions in the Trump administration,” the FP article said.