On the verge of the start of deliveries of the Cybertruck, the expectation has not stopped growing and the interest in the electric truck is such that the first reservists could pocket a huge amount of money if they resell it. But Tesla wants to open the door to the field by threatening to sue customers who sell their units within a year.
This has been confirmed by the brand, which in an email to its customers has indicated that due to the complex production process, a limited number of deliveries will be made, so it asks its customers not to take advantage of this opportunity to sell their units before the first year, unless there is a justified cause.
Tesla retains a preferential purchase right, so the customer will have to notify the brand in writing of their intention to sell, with a sales estimate of the purchase price less 25 cents per mile traveled.
Otherwise, Tesla threatens to file a lawsuit worth $50,000, and will also put you on a blacklist so you will not be able to buy any more vehicles from the brand in the future.
But why doesn’t Tesla want its first Cybertrucks to be resold? The main reason is to keep under control the use and type of customer of the first units, which will mark the result and image of the product. And with the reservists being mainly fans of the brand, you ensure a more benign result, repeating a strategy they have already carried out with the Model 3, the first units of which were in the hands of Tesla and SpaceX employees.
The second reason is that you delay those units from falling into the hands of your rivals, who, in an action widely used throughout the industry, dismantle these models to perform reverse engineering. A practice almost as old as the automotive industry itself.
The third reason is purely advertising. With these types of measures, you put greater value on your product, and you also cause people to talk about you. For better or worse, they will talk about you. And in this Elon Musk is undoubtedly a genius, and the results support this strategy. Let’s not forget the launch into space of its Roadster, which has been one of the largest and cheapest advertising campaigns in history.
The problem for Tesla is that customers will be able to sell their vehicles without problems, so we are looking at a clause for the gallery. And they can sign a rental agreement for one year with a mandatory sale clause at the end of those 12 months. So the brand will never be able to scratch anything.
A measure, as we say, advertising, that will undoubtedly provide an aura of mysticism during the first months to a Cybertruck that, according to estimates, already exceeds one million reserved units. Something with a production capacity of just 125,000 units per year, will mean that many customers will have to wait years to receive their model, which will increase the cost of resale, which will be more and more advertising for Tesla.
