Tesla Cybertruck suffers massive sales slide in its home market

The Tesla Cybertruck posted one of the biggest sales slumps of any electric vehicles (EVs) in the US in 2025, with the numbers looking worse towards the end of the year.

In just its second full year on sale, the Cybertruck recorded a 48.1 per cent sales drop according to Cox Automotive data.

That was among the largest year-on-year declines of any EV in the US market last year. Set aside discontinued vehicles or those on hiatus and only the Kia Niro EV (down 52.7 per cent), Ford E-Transit (down 58.9 per cent) and Tesla’s own Model S (down 52.6 per cent) had greater declines.

The data revealed the slump intensified in 2025, with the fourth quarter (October to December) seeing a 68.1 per cent fall year-on-year, down from 12,991 to 4140 sales. Calendar year sales totalled 20,237 units.

It comes after Ford announced it would drop the rival F-150 Lightning EV – which also didn’t make it to Ford Australia showrooms – as it looks to add more hybrids to its lineup. It’ll be replaced by an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV), which will feature a combustion engine used as a generator.

For context, Ford delivered 4273 F-150 Lightnings in the fourth quarter (down 60.1 per cent) and 27,307 in the calendar year (down 18.5 per cent).

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The Cybertruck’s result stands in stark contrast to the Tesla Model Y, which was the best-selling EV in the US – and Australia – and which posted a much, much more modest sales decline of 4.0 per cent.

It finished ahead of the Model 3, which held the number-two spot and was the only Tesla to post an increase in sales, up 1.3 per cent.

The Chevrolet Equinox EV sat in third place ahead of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, with the US EV market shaken up by the end of tax concessions in October.

Sales of EVs across all makes and models in the US in 2025 dropped two per cent year-on-year, despite the end of national incentives, but have grown considerably over the past five years, up 162 per cent since 2021.

According to Cox Automotive, 2025 was the second-best annual sales result for EVs in the US behind 2024, when 1.3 million were sold.

The Cybertruck, unveiled in 2019 before entering production in 2023, isn’t sold in Australia. An initial deposit page on the automaker’s local website was taken offline in 2021.

A Cybertruck was shown by Tesla Australia in 2025, but it still has yet to be confirmed for local sale, with a similar situation in Europe where design rules are proving a stumbling block for the edgy-looking pickup.

Beyond the Cybertruck, Tesla’s global sales dropped for the second consecutive year in 2025, with the brand losing its crown as the world’s number-one EV maker to China’s BYD.

BYD sold 2.25 million EVs – from a total of 4.6 million vehicles including hybrid models – compared with Tesla’s 1.6 million, representing a slump of 8.6 per cent for the US brand.

Declines of 28 per cent in Europe, including Germany (down 48 per cent) and France (down 38 per cent), were among Tesla’s most disappointing results.

Australian figures saw Tesla remain the top-selling EV brand in 2025, ahead of BYD, despite a sales decline of 24.8 per cent.

While the Model Y remained in the top spot, the BYD Sealion 7 took second place, relegating the Model 3 – which was down 61.3 per cent – to third.

The Model Y has been updated for 2026 with changes including a larger centre screen, while the company introduced a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, improving on its previous four-year/80,000km offer.

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