Tesla’s (TSLA) Cybertruck may be hitting a demand rut.
On Monday, Tesla emailed Cybertruck line workers at Giga Austin telling them to take the next three days off. “On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week (Dec. 3-5), you do not need to report to work,” the memo said, per Business Insider. Despite being sent home, Tesla workers were still paid for working those days.
This is not the first time Cybertruck workers have been told not to work on the factory line. In October, four factory workers told Business Insider that several times they’d either been “sent home or given additional training exercises or cleaning duties to fill their scheduled work hours.”
Cutting shifts on the Cybertruck production line likely means Tesla is controlling inventory, which could be the result of slowing sales.
In August, Tesla stopped taking orders for its least expensive Cybertruck — the $61,000 rear-wheel drive version — hinting at demand concerns as more expensive Foundation Series trucks piled up in inventory.
The cheapest Cybertruck currently on offer is the $79,900 all-wheel drive version, with delivery “available today” in New York City.
Just last month Tesla started offering lease options as well for the Cybertruck on its website, with the cheapest deal starting at $999 a month for the all-wheel drive, another bid to juice sales.
The $999 lease deal is for 36 months, includes 10,000 miles a year, and takes into account the federal $7,500 tax credit.
The concern for automakers, especially Tesla, is that the White House, along with a Republican-led Congress, could repeal certain aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act, including consumer tax credits for electric vehicles.
Nevertheless, with the fourth quarter soon coming to an end, Tesla will pull every lever it can to boost EV sales with the help of EV tax credits, leasing, and other incentives.
The pricey — and polarizing Cybertruck — will be part of that mix.
In Q3 the Cybertruck hit 16,000 units sold, per Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book, making it the No. 3 EV sold in the quarter, behind only Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3. This also means the Cybertruck outsold its only other EV pickup competition in Q3 — the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T. Cox also reported Tesla sold more than 28,000 Cybertrucks through Q3.
The issue now is whether that sales momentum is slowing down as consumers look to other truck options, with Ford (F) and Rivian (RIVN) offering new end-of-year incentives too.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
