Tesla Pickup Truck More Popular Than Ford F-150!

Guest “you couldn’t make this sort of schist up if you tried” by David Middleton

Tesla’s ‘Cyberpunk’ Truck Is Already America’s New Favorite Pickup: Study
By Sissi Cao • 07/03/19

Elon Musk has made no secret of his intention to someday build an electric pickup truck. The Tesla CEO has been teasing the idea for about two years and has said it’s “going to look pretty sci-fi.” Despite the fact that no one has a clue when Tesla will actually start manufacturing the truck or even what it will look like, the concept car is already the most popular pickup truck in America—at least on social media, a new study by automobile review site AutoWise found.

The study analyzed geotagged Twitter data of over 100,000 tweets and found that the Tesla pickup truck was being talked about in more states than the Ford F-150, the longtime best-selling vehicle in America.

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Observer

From the Observer article…

Red = Imaginary Pickup Truck, Blue = Real Pickup Truck

Here’s a picture of the Tesla ‘Cyberpunk’ truck…

Well… It’s a picture of ~~Tony Stark~~ Elon Musk dancing in front of a picture of what the Tesla truck might look like. “Tesla gave a glimpse of its concept pickup truck at the Model Y reveal event in March. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images” (Observer)

Here’s a picture of the coolest version of the Ford F-150…

The Ford Raptor, a real pickup truck (Motor 1)… It may not be a Jeep, but it’s cool!

Only in the Twitter-sphere of twits could an imaginary pickup truck be more popular than a real pickup truck that outsells all makes and models of electric vehicles combined in the U.S.

In production since 1948, the F-Series includes full-size pickup trucks, chassis cab trucks, and commercial vehicles. As of 2019 production, the Ford F-Series includes the F-150 pickup, Class 3-5 Super Duty trucks (F-250 through F-550), and the Class 6-8 Super Duty trucks (F-650, F-750). The most popular version of the F-Series is the F-150, now in its thirteenth generation.

The F-Series has been the best-selling pickup truck in the United States since 1977 and the best-selling vehicle since 1986^[1][2]; it is also the best selling vehicle in Canada.^[3] As of the 2018 model year, the F-Series generates $41 billion in annual revenue for Ford, making the brand more valuable than Coca-Cola and Nike.^[4]

Wikipedia

EV’s vs Ford F-Series

Sales data from Inside EV’s and Car Sales Base

Did you notice it? ~~Tony Stark~~ Elon Musk finally topped 20,000 Model 3 sales in June!!! Prior to falling 83% short of their Q3 2017 Model 3 production guidance, Tesla had forecast “1,500 Model 3 sedans in September and grow that to 20,000 vehicles a month by December” 2017. Tesla first managed to deliver more 20,000 Model 3’s in September 2018 (22,250), only 9 months behind guidance. They’ve only managed to hit the 20,000 mark three times (Sept. and Dec. 2018 and June 2019).

~~Tony Stark~~ Elon Musk “promised stakeholders a Model 3 run rate of 500,000 cars per year by the end of 2018″… Tesla managed less than 140,000 in 2018. They’re on the same track in 2019 (less than 70,000 in six months).

The Cobalt Cliff Will Cap Tesla’s Model 3 Production Capacity At 250,000 Units Per Year

Oct. 23, 2017

John Petersen

[…]

Tesla (TSLA) has a problem that may be a company killer. Elon Musk has promised stakeholders a Model 3 run rate of 500,000 cars per year by the end of 2018, but Panasonic’s (OTCPK:PCRFF) cathode powder supply chain can’t support more than half of that volume. More importantly, expansion of Panasonic’s supply chain would be a Herculean task because its cathode powder supplier, Sumitomo Metal Mining (OTCPK:SMMYY), already is using 100% of its cobalt production to satisfy Panasonic’s cathode powder requirements.

While I would consider a sustained run rate of 250,000 Model 3s per year a major accomplishment, I don’t think a market that expects multiples of that production volume next year would share my admiration. Some of my readers will delight in observing that Tesla has a long history of ambitious promises backed by small and late deliveries, but that kind of criticism mutes the ugly reality that a 250,000 car per year run rate on the Model 3 won’t be enough to stem the tide of red ink or put Tesla in a position to service its debts.

We all know what happens when companies are chronically incapable of making a buck without the kind financial gimmickry that pervades Tesla’s financial reporting.

[…]

Seeking Alpha

As of July 2018, approximately 1/4 of Telsa Model 3 orders had been cancelled. That’s about 63,000 cancellations. As of June 2019, they had delivered only 209,146 Model 3’s.