Tesla raises price of Cybertruck by $15,000 in US

Tesla has raised the price of its most-expensive Cybertruck pickup truck model by $15,000 in the United States despite softer-than-expected sales and recalls.

The sharp increase follows a long-delayed rollout in which the pickup has struggled to meet Tesla’s early promises, with sales so far trailing expectations.

The Cyberbeast variant, which now costs $114,990, comes with a new “Luxe Package” that includes Supervised Full Self-Driving and free access to its Supercharger network. Prices of other Cybertruck models were unchanged.

The pricing of the model is well above CEO Elon Musk’s 2019 pitch of a roughly $40,000 starting price. But when it was launched in late 2023, Tesla set the base model at $60,990, more than 50 per cent higher than the earlier target.

Rival models such as Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet’s Silverado EV generally offer lower entry prices on certain trims, fueling competition as Cybertruck prices climb.

Tesla has also been offering hefty discounts of around $10,000 on some Cybertruck units in inventory.

Musk previously said Tesla had the capacity to produce more than 125,000 Cybertrucks annually, with a potential to reach about 250,000 in 2025, while also warning of a difficult production ramp.

The pickup has underperformed expectations, with sales representing a small fraction of the company’s overall deliveries and demand fading amid repeated recalls and quality issues.

Reuters