It already seemed clear that the Tesla Cybertruck was a flop commercially when the company started offering incentives and even resorted to a desperate sales pitch on the White House lawn. It's also no news that the electric pick-up truck has design flaws, from frames snapping to the strange light positioning and an inability to handle snow. The car isn't even road legal in many countries.
But just when it seemed the Cybertruck's reputation couldn't fall any further, Tesla's now suffered the ultimate embarrassment for its brand. It's had to recall every single vehicle. And this isn't like that time when Tesla issued a recall because of a font. It's because panels have been flying off on the road since they're merely stuck on with glue.
Cybertruck ultra hard cold rolled steel is flopping around like a piece of plastic 🤣. This owner had the front roof line piece peel away after a bolt came looses while driving. Definitely very flimsy. See details below👇 pic.twitter.com/Ns9GYnIC9aMay 9, 2024
Tesla has agreed to recall all 46,100 Cybertruck pickups currently out there after the US traffic safety administration NHTSA raised concerns about the glue used to hold exterior sheet metal. The NHTSA received a complaint from an owner after a panel lining the side of the roof came loose. The adhesive, it seems, can become brittle, particularly in cold conditions, causing a major accident risk
Sadly, the news is hardly surprising. The design flaw has been pointed out in videos on social media like the X post above for months. The car enthusiast WhistlinDiesel described the gluing of the panel as "unacceptable" in a TikTok video last year (below).
@whistlindieselvstiktok2 I’m choosing cybertruck every time here 💀
♬ original sound - Whistlindiesel
Tesla says it will replace the original bonding agent with a different structural adhesive that, according to the NHTSA recall report, won't be "prone to environmental embrittlement". That doesn't exactly inspire confidence, though; those panels are still stuck on with glue.
It’s the latest brand embarrassment for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. The Cybertruck was long delayed due to engineering problems, and it massively increased in price while being downgraded in specs from the original 2019 concept. There have already been recalls to fix software and hardware, and deliveries are nowhere near the company's initial projections of 500,000 units a year.
To cement the vehicle's disgrace, there have been reports of Cybertruck owners trying to sell their vehicles, either out of embarrassment at the car or horror at Musk's support for far-right political groups.
The Cybertruck debacle has also distracted Tesla from the potentially much more bankable Model 2, which it first teased five years ago. The increasing controversy of Musk's role as advisor to Donald Trump could now harm the prospects of the upcoming entry car if it ever reaches production.
While Musk's entry into government might make sense for his personal goals, it's not been great for this brands. Tesla shares have lost a third of their value since the start of the year. The company's been dropped from the Vancouver International Auto Show because of security concerns, and even big Tesla bulls like the tech analyst Dan Ives are saying Musk needs to pull back from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) if he's to save Tesla.
“The brand damage started off as limited in our view based on our initial survey work… but now has spread globally over the last few weeks into what we would characterise as a brand tornado crisis moment for Musk and Tesla,” Ives wrote in a note to investors reported by The Guardian.
It may be the case that Musk thinks the reputation of the Tesla logo in the car market no longer matters too much as the company aims to move towards tech innovations like its robotaxi and humanoid robots. Surely EVs are kind of 'woke', anyway? But even if cars eventually become a minor part of the business, the public's view of the brand identity will be vital to build consumer trust in its ambitious new products.
For more of the week's car branding news, see the stunning Aston Martin CGI ads made in Unreal Engine.
