New Delhi: Pushing back its deadline, Tesla has announced a new timeline for the initial production of its much-anticipated Cybertruck. The electric vehicle (EV) maker has mentioned that it would now begin the initial production of the Cybertruck at end of the first quarter (Q1) of next year, the media has reported. The EV maker's CEO Elon Musk has also promised to share an official roadmap later in January.
Originally announced in 2019, the EV maker had said Cybertruck would be rolling off production lines by late last year, but that did not happen. Full production was delayed to some time in 2022 and now that deadline too has been waived. Musk's Tesla is expected to make limited production of the Cybertruck in the first quarter of 2023 before increasing output, said a report by news agency Reuters.
Meanwhile, Tesla's India launch plans have been dampened as well. According to media reports, it appears that Tesla is looking at reducing import duties on its cars for its India launch since high import duties will mean high prices and in turn will mean lower sales expectations. It also seems first the EV maker wants to sell the Model 3 and other products via the import route and then begin local manufacturing.
Earlier, the billionaire entrepreneur had said that Tesla Inc, the US electric-vehicle pioneer, was “working through” a lot of challenges with the Indian government. The comment from Musk came as he talked about the plans to launch Tesla cars in India, however, reportedly the negotiations over import duties and local manufacturing have led to an impasse.