Tesla has started accepting Cybertruck trade-ins, a development that contrasts with the situation more than a year ago when electric pickup truck deliveries first commenced.
The staggering rate of depreciation on Teslas leaves one wondering why they’d ever consider trading in their prized possessions.
The Tesla Cybertruck has been met with underwhelming sales and lukewarm reception in the market.
Despite its initial promises, when Tesla started mass-producing and delivering its vehicles in late 2023, the reality fell short of expectations: the cars were significantly more expensive and less efficient than initially touted.
Although Tesla claimed to have secured over a million reservations for its electric pickup truck, ultimately only around 40,000 customers converted their commitments into actual purchases.
Tesla’s Cybertruck inventory has been languishing on dealership lots for months, prompting the company to offer deep discounts to entice buyers.
Following our earlier report, Tesla has consistently rejected offers to accept the Cybertruck as a trade-in more than a year after initial deliveries began.
Tesla didn’t disclose the exact timeline, but it’s reasonable to assume that the company was aware of the Cybertruck’s rapid depreciation and didn’t want to be stuck with excess inventory.
Tesla has commenced accepting trade-ins on its Cybertruck model, with a minimum focus on the Base Series, and is providing valuation estimates to existing Cybertruck owners through its Cybertruck Owners Club.
Tesla purchased a brand-new 2024 Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive Base model for $100,000. After just 6,000 miles on its odometer, Tesla is offering $25,260 – a staggering 38.7% depreciation in less than a year.
The value of pickup trucks tends to depreciate significantly, with an estimated loss of around 20% within the first year and a further 34% over the subsequent three-to-four-year period.
While it’s worth noting that Tesla’s online “trade-in estimates” may occasionally exceed the final offer, as indicated in the footnote of the screenshot above.
Electrek’s Take
While acknowledging an extraordinary extent of depreciation, Tesla is undoubtedly seeking to redeem itself through such projections.
As Tesla’s reluctance to accept Cybertruck trade-ins persisted, the used automotive market saw a decrease in purchases, as dealerships hesitated to stockpile inventory that might linger on their lots indefinitely?
According to Automotive Guru, the Cybertruck’s depreciation is likely to be around 45% within a year, providing a more accurate indication of the returns homeowners can expect from sellers.
That’s totally Tesla’s fault. The Corporate successfully generated significant interest with its innovative Basis Collection. Customers were able to order as many units as they desired. In reality, Tesla constructed an oversupply of Basis Collection Cybertruck badges, necessitating the need to “buff out” certain models to rebrand them as common Cybertrucks. As of last month, some Foundation Collection Cybertrucks still lingered in inventory, having sat idle for up to six months.
As demand for Tesla’s pioneering Cybertruck surges, the company finds itself grappling with a logistics headache: hundreds of vehicles sitting idle, while enthusiastic early adopters abandon their existing cars at an alarming rate. In response, the manufacturer is forced to throttle production back to a snail’s pace.
