Tesla's Cybertruck is falling even shorter of expectations than Ford's infamous Edsel, according to recent data. Both vehicles paired bold engineering with polarizing styling and lofty sales ambitions.
Commercial failure doesn't erase innovations that could shape future vehicles.
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The Ford Edsel has spent nearly seven decades as the auto industry's gold standard for commercial failure.
If Tesla's Cybertruck stays on its current trajectory, it'll own that title outright, a comparison Bloomberg recently drew as well.
The irony is that, much like Ford's infamous flop, the Cybertruck is far more interesting as an engineering exercise than its sales figures suggest.
The Numbers Don't Add Up
Ford expected to sell around 200,000 Edsels during its first model year after launching the car in 1957.
Instead, it managed less than one-third of that target before sales continued falling until the model was discontinued just two years later.
Tesla's numbers somehow look dramatically worse. Elon Musk once suggested Tesla could eventually build more than 250,000 Cybertrucks annually if demand existed.
According to new S&P Global Mobility registration data cited by Bloomberg, only 7,133 Cybertrucks were registered in the U.
S. through May.
Even allowing for a partial year, the truck remains on pace for well under one-sixth of Musk's stated ambition.
The figures look worse the further we dig.
Edsel's sales peaked during its first year. The Cybertruck saw its current peak, around 39,000 units, during its first year as well.
