Elon Musk on Saturday said that Tesla has received 146,000 Cybertruck orders so far.
Tesla unveiled the new futuristic pickup truck at a promotional event in Los Angeles last Thursday. The vehicle represents a big metallic trapezoid and will start at $39,900.
But when Musk tried to showcase the truck’s durability by having Tesla’s chief designer chuck a metal ball at one of the pickup truck’s armored windows, the window ended up cracking.
“We threw wrenches, we threw everything even literally the kitchen sink at the glass and it didn’t break. For some weird reason, it broke now,” Musk said at the event. “I don’t know why. We will fix it in post.”
Some Wall Street analysts were critical of the truck’s extreme style, while others speculated that the design could be a primary selling point for Tesla.
Tesla shares fell 6.1% in Friday trading to close at $333.04.
“The shattering of the truck’s unbreakable glass windows during the live demonstration was not a good start,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.
Musk later shared a video taken before the official debut that showed the truck withstanding a metal ball to the window.
The Cybertruck is Tesla’s sixth vehicle model since the company was founded in 2003. It will compete against models like the Ford F Series and General Motor’s Chevrolet Silverado.
However, some analysts say that they don’t expect Tesla’s truck to be a serious competitor in the pickup market.
“Tesla tried to throw a lot of stones at the legacy pickups on the market, with Tesla highlighting advantages in durability, towing, payload, and 0-60,” Credit Suisse wrote in a note.
“Yet we think the legacy OEMs can breathe a sigh of relief, as we don’t expect Cybertruck to encroach on large pickup share.”
