Tesla Pushes Cybertruck Production To 2022

Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck customers will have to wait a little longer to take delivery of the electric truck as the automaker has delayed production until 2022.

According to Tesla’s webpage, and as reported by Engadget, Cybertruck customers will be able to complete the configuration of the truck as “production nears in 2022.”

The delay applies to all models of the Cybertruck – single, dual, and tri-motor, according to the Tesla website.

The quiet pushback of production into next year comes as Tesla initially said it would start shipping trucks in 2021.

But CEO Elon Musk said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call in January that the first units would ship this year only “if we get lucky,” according to Business Insider.

Musk continued during the call by saying, "I expect volume production to be in 2022.”

In its July quarterly earnings call, Musk maintained that thought, saying that Tesla only recently completed the engineering design for the Cybertruck and would have just a few months to finish its development to ship initial trucks, Engadget reported.

According to Business Insider, Tesla’s delays may be due to the new manufacturing equipment that Tesla needed to produce from the ground up to build the Cybertruck’s hard outer exterior.

However, the delays could competitively challenge Tesla as it goes head-to-head with its electric truck rivals that are gearing up to hit the market.

GMC’s Hummer EV could come to market ahead of the Cybertruck’s launch despite some delays, while Rivian has said it will deliver its R1T truck this September, and Ford’s F-150 Lightning is set for a spring 2022 release.

But Tesla has reported over 1 million Cybertruck reservations, Electrek reported.

As of Monday premarket hours, shares of Tesla were trading at $710.05, up $10.95 or 1.57%.