When most of us saw the Cybertruck from electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA), it became apparent rather quickly that it was unlike anything else we had seen before. Though opinions quickly formed over whether or not this was good news, it was clear that the Cybertruck was just plain different. And it remains defying conventions today, according to a CNBC report. This news was enough to give Tesla a fractional boost in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
Interestingly, noted the report, while a wide range of words were employed to describe the Cybertruck—from “Dream car” to “Abomination”—one word that never seemed to come up was “truck.” In fact, it was often compared to the original SUV or even the “roadster pickup” like the Chevrolet (GM) El Camino.
This actually makes for an odd position for Tesla to be in. It is wholly unique, and that opens up the potential for polarization in the market; people will love it or hate it, and there will be very little population that is ambivalent toward it. That means marketing will either be easy, simple reminders to the fired-up base, or difficult, trying to change the minds of people who actively dislike the product.
Roll Out the Robotaxi
As for Tesla’s ambitions in the robotaxi space, those are about to get a new exhibition as well. Tesla will be taking the robotaxi lineup to Warner Bros (WBD) studio in Burbank on October 10. There, Tesla will show off the robotaxi for the first time in a surprisingly familiar setting.
Reports from Electrek noted that Tesla may have turned to Warner because the studio lot in question offered a “…simulation of a suburban neighborhood.” Indeed, it features several houses and a “small-town downtown area,” making the studio lot a pretty pitch-perfect setting for a robotaxi to operate in. It would effectively simulate what it would be like to be picked up by this car, taken to a certain location, and brought home. While the buildings would not be exactly the same as they would be in, say, your hometown, the simulation would be sufficiently close for demonstration purposes.
Is Tesla a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 10 Buys, 14 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.46% loss in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $211.46 per share implies 1.06% downside risk.
