Tesla cancels Cybertruck plans for Australia and New Zealand

Tesla has formally ended the Cybertruck program for Australia and New Zealand. On October 23, the company emailed reservation holders to inform them that their orders are void. This move concludes a wait of almost seven years for customers who placed deposits starting in November 2019.

The email states that plans to produce the vehicle for these regions have been discontinued. Tesla wrote that it is unable to fulfill the reservation and will cancel it. Customers will receive a full refund of any payments made within 30 days. Those who choose to order a new Model 3 or Model Y instead will receive a free one-year subscription to Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

The core obstacle is the vehicle's design. The Cybertruck is built exclusively for left-hand drive markets. Australia and New Zealand, like the UK and Japan, require right-hand drive vehicles. Australia also mandates certification under its own design rules, a costly process for a truck with weakening demand in North America.

Australia was once seen as a key market. A 2020 survey ranked it third globally for reservations, behind the US and Canada, with roughly 3% of total orders. By 2023, tracking data placed total reservations at approximately 2 million. Tesla quietly closed the Australian reservation page in May 2022 without issuing refunds at that time.

In 2024, Elon Musk told shareholders that the truck might be certified for other markets the following year. No right-hand drive version arrived. Tesla delivered the truck to South Korea late last year and to the UAE in January. It remains blocked in the EU due to pedestrian safety concerns.

Sales figures suggest a redesign is not cost-effective. Tesla delivered 8,295 units in the third quarter of 2026. This category, now mostly Cybertrucks, accounts for roughly 30,000 annual sales. The production line is built for 250,000 units per year. The combined population of Australia and New Zealand is about 33 million.

US sales have dropped sharply from about 39,000 in 2024. Many Australian reservation holders had likely already cancelled after the 2023 model proved more expensive and offered less range than promised. The truck now functions as a niche American product, with international expansion limited to left-hand drive buyers.