Cybertruck is the new Edsel
I’ve never paid much attention to cars, but the Ford Edsel was already a punchline when I was a kid. I don’t know if I ever saw one, but any reference to it seemed to be accompanied by a smirk.
“The Edsel is one of the greatest and most infamous flops in automotive history, but it’s in trouble. It’s perilously close to being dethroned by a newcomer: the Tesla Cybertruck. Despite the fact that their debuts are separated by over 65 years, they bear some striking similarities. Both were predicted to sell over 200,000 units in their first year on the market, both have — uh — unusual design languages, both have suffered sales drops every year they’ve been on sale and both have become the punchlines of their respective eras.”
The first time I saw a cybertruck was when we were on vacation in Yellowstone. Someone had parked it outside the restaurant we were dining in. The kitchen and waitstaff were gawking from the window at the front of the restaurant.
I’ve always thought the cybertruck was ugly. And it was ridiculously expensive. I don’t know if these are the reason it flopped, but it has been a flop.
“. . . in 2024, Tesla registered just 38,965 Cybertrucks. The number was sliced to 20,237 in 2025, and through May of this year, just 7,133 Cybertrucks have been registered in the U.S.”
*snip*
“Perhaps Tesla will try some sort of mid-cycle refresh to drum up sales, but its weird styling, high price, hideous unreliability, limited usability and the fact it reminds everyone of Musk are going to make that a pretty tough ask.”
Tesla builds the new Edsel
Joel:
but, but he is a billionaire, a genius of sorts. How could he fail at this? There were other automotive mistakes too . . . Cadillac’s 1981 V8‑6‑4 engine, Pontiac Aztek, Chrysler’s Ultradrive Trans., etc. Those were US auto designed autos.
I am happy there were a few (thousands) of brave souls who tried it out and more likely than not found the Tesla not to be the vehicle it was thought to be. Back to the drawing board.
Does everyone need a car? In today’s environment, probably so. The US demands some type of individual transportation to be independent of public transportation. We live in far off places where such is unavailable or too expensive.
There is a cost factor here. Typically, we do not need the largest, or fastest, or showiest vehicle. etc. on the block even though our egos demand such. The economic model for this country allows such. Rambling done . . .
Durnedest thing of it is: Edsel’s were damned good cars, ahead of their time. Many of what was Edsel went into the Galaxy class cars, arguably the best selling full-size cars, wagons and car-trucks of the era
I chuckled the other day when reading GM is beginning to offer “hands free” options on their higher end products. Teslas are just the Chevys of electric cars …