Sales of Tesla Inc.’s Cybertruck have been propped up in recent months by Elon Musk’s other companies, an unusual arrangement that further indicates the polarizing pickup is failing to appeal to everyday buyers.
SpaceX, the Musk-led rocket and satellite maker, accounted for 1,279 — or more than 18% — of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the US during the fourth quarter, according to registration data that S&P Global Mobility provided to Bloomberg News. The billionaire’s other ventures acquired another 60 vehicles during those months.
That means almost one in every five Cybertrucks registered during the period were delivered from one part of Musk’s sprawling business empire to another. And the purchases, likely exceeding $100 million in value, have continued into this year.
The figures reinforce the extent to which consumer demand is faltering only two years after Tesla began delivering the electric pickup. Without those sales to other Musk-run companies — which included xAI, Boring Co. and Neuralink, in addition to SpaceX — Cybertruck registrations in the fourth quarter would have fallen 51%.
“Tesla is running out of buyers for the Cybertruck,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for advisory firm AutoForecast Solutions.
Tesla, Musk, SpaceX, Boring and Neuralink didn’t respond to requests for comment. SpaceX acquired xAI in February.
Tesla is under increasing pressure to reverse slumping sales across its lineup as it faces the prospect of a third straight annual decline. Once the undisputed electric vehicle leader, the company was surpassed by China’s BYD Co. as the world’s top seller of EVs last year.
Investors have largely overlooked Tesla’s declining auto sales as Musk reorients the company around futuristic pursuits including robotaxis and humanoid robots. But those products are still a ways off from becoming tangible business lines, and shareholders’ patience appears to be wearing thin. Since hitting a record high in mid-December, Tesla’s stock has lost a fifth of its value.
High Hopes
The Cybertruck debuted with great fanfare in late 2023, diversifying Tesla’s lineup as a rugged bruiser of a vehicle to counter the sleek Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan that account for the vast majority of the company’s auto sales. Tesla was keen to compete in the lucrative US pickup market dominated by Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV.
Musk predicted before the launch that the company would be churning out 250,000 Cybertrucks annually by 2025. He’s called it the best product Tesla has ever made.
From the outset, however, there were red flags. The Cybertruck’s angular design was divisive, and the attention-grabbing vehicle occasionally became the target of ridicule and vandalism when a backlash against Musk swelled last year. The truck was also more expensive than expected, with initial versions fetching more than $100,000, far more than the under-$40,000 starting price tag first touted in 2019.
The first Cybertruck registrations by SpaceX began in October of last year, according to S&P Global Mobility data. The sales to Musk-run companies have continued into 2026, with another 158 in January and 67 in February.
While the financial terms of the inter-company sales haven’t been disclosed, the Cybertruck’s current starting price of around $70,000 suggests that SpaceX, xAI, Boring and Neuralink have paid Tesla more than $100 million combined for the vehicles.
It’s not entirely clear what Musk’s other companies are doing with the Cybertrucks, or why an artificial intelligence and social media company would acquire 50 of them.
Photos and videos have circulated online showing long rows of idle Cybertrucks on SpaceX property in Texas. The lead engineer for the pickup posted on social media in October that SpaceX was replacing gas-powered support vehicles with trucks. At least some are being used as security vehicles. EV news outlet Electrek reported in December that SpaceX could ultimately buy about 2,000 Cybertrucks.
While Tesla has given no indication that it would discontinue the Cybertruck, it’s phasing out the slow-selling Model X SUV and Model S sedan, its two oldest vehicles. Musk has indicated the company may look to boost fleet sales to commercial customers in response to questions about Cybertruck’s murky prospects.
“There’s obviously a market there for cargo delivery,” he said in January during a Tesla earnings call. “There’s a lot of cargo that needs to move locally within a city, and an autonomous Cybertruck could be very useful for that.”
Pickup Letdown
The sales woes aren’t entirely unique to Cybertruck: electric pickups have been a bust within the broadly stalled US EV market.
Ford recently decided to convert its electric F-150 Lightning pickup to an extended-range hybrid vehicle. The Cybertruck was still the top-selling battery-powered truck in the US during the first quarter, despite a 45% drop, according to Cox Automotive data.
Musk’s companies have long been intertwined through financial investments, business agreements and sometimes even shared personnel. XAI uses Tesla Megapack batteries and has integrated its Grok chatbot into Tesla vehicles; Las Vegas conference-goers can ride in Teslas through a Boring-built tunnel; Tesla and SpaceX are collaborating on a planned chip production project.
Still, it’s unusual for an automaker to unload significant volumes of a single model to an affiliated business with the same CEO. Car manufacturers will sometimes offer new incentives, lower prices or lease vehicles to employees when a model isn’t selling well.
“It’s a way of keeping the plant running when retail demand does not equal production,” said Tom Libby, an automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
Hull writes for Bloomberg.
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