Seven Years of Waiting End as Tesla Ax Cybertruck in Australia and New Zealand
Tesla has formally ended its right-hand-drive plans, refunding nearly 70,000 reservation holders who had been holding deposits since 2019.
By Juan Gonzalez ·
The seven-year saga of the Australian Cybertruck reservation officially ended on Thursday with a stark email notification.
Tesla informed its customers in Australia and New Zealand that plans to produce the electric pickup for the region have been discontinued. This decision impacts a cohort of buyers who began reserving the vehicle in November 2019 by paying a 150 Australian dollar deposit. For nearly seven years, these individuals held a promise for a vehicle that the manufacturer now says it will not build for their specific market.
The company stated that all reservations are now void and full refunds will be processed within 30 days. To incentivize continued loyalty, Tesla is offering a complimentary one-year subscription to Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for those who pivot to purchasing a Model 3 or Model Y. This move signals a strategic shift, attempting to convert lapsed pickup truck interest into sales of vehicles Tesla already produces in right-hand drive configurations.
The delay was rooted in a fundamental engineering mismatch. The Cybertruck is manufactured exclusively in left-hand drive, whereas Australia, New Zealand, and other key markets require right-hand-drive vehicles. Additionally, Australia mandates specific local certification. While Tesla shipped a display unit in 2024 and CEO Elon Musk previously hinted at certification for "next year," the truck never received the necessary modifications. The lack of a right-hand-drive version became a significant financial hurdle for the automaker.
Financial data underscores the rationale behind the cancellation. In the third quarter of 2026, Tesla delivered only 8,295 units categorized as "Other Models," a segment that is now predominantly Cybertruck. Estimates place quarterly Cybertruck sales at between 7,000 and 8,000 units, translating to an annual pace of roughly 30,000 vehicles. This volume is significantly below the production line’s capacity of 250,000 units per year, making the cost of re-engineering the truck for markets with a combined population of 33 million difficult to justify.
The decision follows a period of quiet uncertainty. Tesla closed the Australian reservation page in May 2022, replacing it with a generic update button without issuing refunds at the time. Although crowdsourced data suggested Australia was the third-largest market for reservations with roughly 3% of the global total, the company had not confirmed these regional figures. Now, the truck remains a niche product, primarily aimed at North American and select left-hand-drive international markets such as South Korea and the UAE.
This cancellation highlights a broader reality: the Cybertruck is increasingly becoming a domestic American product. With production volumes far below initial projections and international expansion limited to markets compatible with its existing design, Tesla appears to be consolidating its focus. For the thousands of Australian and New Zealanders who waited nearly a decade, the wait is finally over, though the truck they anticipated will never arrive.
Source: Electrek
