Tesla is set to start deliveries of the Cybertruck later this year, and while the company reportedly has over 1.5 million reservations, Ford CEO Jim Farley apparently isn’t worried customers will pick it over their electric or gas-powered pickup trucks.
In an interview with CNBC to discuss how Ford signed a deal with Tesla to adopt their North American Charging Standard (NACS) and gain access to the Supercharger network, Farley said his company knows truck customers “better than anyone,” and that the Cybertruck won’t appeal to them, calling it a design “for Silicon Valley people.” Farley went on to say Ford makes a different kind of truck, one that is made for “real people who do real work.”
“The reality is, America loves an underdog — and we are the market leader for EV trucks and vans, and we know those customers better than anyone. And if he wants to design a Cybertruck for Silicon Valley people, fine. It’s like a cool high-end product parked in front of a hotel. But I don’t make trucks like that. I make trucks for real people who do real work, and that’s a different kind of truck,” Farley said. (via CNBC)
Ford certainly has some credentials when it comes to the pickup space, having decades of experience building the F-150. The F-150 has become the best-selling truck in the US for nearly half a decade, but to outright dismiss the Cybertruck before we even know the full specs, let alone its capabilities, seems like a bit of a misstep.
The design certainly isn’t for everyone, and many of those customers who have been staunch Ford truck customers likely won’t switch to the Cybertruck. But with over 1.5 million reservations, there is clearly demand for the Cybertruck. From what we have seen and heard from reservation holders, a lot of them will be first time truck buyers, with a common theme being that they never considered a pickup truck until the Cybertruck came along. So Farley may be right that his customers won’t be buying the Cybertruck, but there are apparently plenty of others who will, and it would not be surprising to see the Cybertruck outsell the F-150 Lightning in its first year while production is still ramping.
