Elon Musk’s companies are buying thousands of Tesla Cybertrucks to boost sales figures

Published: 2026-04-20 11:04:08 ET TSLA

Published on 04/20/2026 at 11:04 am EDT

Key takeaways

The market for Tesla’s Cybertruck, a large and expensive electric pick-up, has turned out to be smaller than initially expected. In the final quarter of 2025, around 7,071 Cybertrucks were sold in the United States. However, a significant share of these sales went to other companies owned by Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO.

Internal purchases

According to data from S&P Mobility, analysed by Bloomberg, around one fifth of the Cybertrucks registered in the US during that period were bought by Musk’s various companies. SpaceX, his space exploration company, was a major buyer, but dozens of other firms within his empire also purchased the vehicles.

These include infrastructure firm the Boring Company, brain–computer interface developer Neuralink and xAI, an artificial intelligence company recently taken over by SpaceX. This trend continued in 2026, with Musk’s companies registering a further 225 Cybertrucks in January and February. That brings the total number of Cybertrucks purchased internally to around 1,500.

Sales value

With a base price of around 70,000 dollars (59,504 euros), the total value of these internal sales is roughly 100 million dollars (85 million euros). It is possible that Musk’s companies received a discount on the trucks. In addition, Tesla may have offered promotional deals on surplus stock.

Since launch, after several delays, Cybertruck sales have been disappointing. Despite the initial hype and a futuristic design unveiled seven years earlier, consumer uptake has been slower than expected. As a result, Tesla was forced to drastically scale back its original sales target of 250,000 Cybertrucks per year. In the first full year of sales, around 40,000 units were sold, and that number halved in the following year.

Factors affecting sales

Several factors are contributing to the Cybertruck’s underwhelming performance. American pick-up buyers typically prefer traditional, fossil fuel-powered brands. There have been multiple recalls of the vehicle, and its unconventional design may not appeal to a broad audience. The large-scale purchase of Cybertrucks by Musk’s own companies can be seen as an attempt to prop up the sales figures.

According to Bloomberg, there is also considerable uncertainty about the intended use of these vehicles within Musk’s diverse corporate portfolio, and it questions why a company focused on artificial intelligence and social media would need 50 Cybertrucks. (fc)

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