SpaceX to the rescue: why Elon Musk is buying his own Tesla Cybertrucks

17 April 2026

Imagine walking into a store and seeing a line of people waiting to buy a new toy. Now, imagine finding out that the person who owns the store is actually the one paying those people to stand in line. That is essentially what seems to be happening with the Tesla Cybertruck. We have seen truckloads of these stainless steel EVs arrive at rocket launch sites. New data now shows that Elon Musk's other companies are the ones keeping the sales numbers high.

According to registration data from S&P Global Mobility, SpaceX bought 1,279 Cybertrucks during the final three months of 2025. This is a massive portion of the total sales - nearly one out of every five Cybertrucks registered in the United States during that time went to SpaceX. When you add in Musk's other businesses - like xAI, The Boring Company, and Neuralink - the total reaches 1,339 trucks. That means about 19% of all sales for that quarter were just Musk moving money from one pocket to another.

The impact on Tesla's reputation is significant. Without these internal purchases, the number of new Cybertruck registrations would have plummeted by 51% compared to the previous year. Instead of showing the world that these electric trucks are a hit, the data would have shown a huge collapse in interest. It appears the company used SpaceX's bank account to mask a lack of demand from the general public.

These are not cheap vehicles. Based on the prices in late 2025, SpaceX likely spent over £73 million to acquire these trucks. While it is common for a company to use its own products for work, buying over a thousand of them at full price is very rare. Tesla's lead engineer, Wes Morrill, claimed the companies were just updating their old fleets, but the timing is very convenient. Tesla needed to show high sales numbers for its EVs, and SpaceX provided the necessary cash.

The buying spree did not end when the new year started. In January 2026, Musk's companies picked up another 158 units. In February, they took 67 more. Tesla originally told its investors that it would sell 250,000 Cybertrucks every single year. Right now, if we remove the sales to Musk's own companies, they are only on track to sell about 20,000 units annually - less than 10% of what the boss promised.

Experts who follow the automotive industry are starting to voice their concerns. Sam Fiorani, a researcher at AutoForecast Solutions, noted that Tesla is simply running out of people who want the truck. The Cybertruck has been struggling for more than a year. Even the Ford F-150 Lightning, which many considered a slow seller, managed to outsell the Cybertruck in 2025. Ford eventually stopped making the Lightning because they felt demand was too low. If the Cybertruck is performing even worse than a "canceled" truck, Tesla has a major problem on its hands.

Tesla tried several tricks to boost interest before it started selling to itself. They shipped the trucks to the Middle East to see if buyers there would like the shiny design. They even suggested that unsold trucks could be used as simple delivery vans for cargo. None of these plans seemed to move the needle. The inventory grew so large that the owner of the company had to become the customer. This creates a strange situation for a public company like Tesla, as its success is being propped up by a private company like SpaceX.

The Cybertruck is a heavy and large machine. It measures about 18.64 ft in length and 7.91 ft in width. With a weight of roughly 6,834 lb, it is a lot of metal to leave sitting in a parking lot. If you want to know more about the truck, go to our review right here. To help move these heavy stainless steel beasts, Tesla finally decided to lower the price.

On February 19, 2026, the company launched a more affordable All-Wheel Drive (AWD) model for £44,000. They also dropped the price of the top-tier "Cyberbeast" to £70,000, which is a £10,900 discount. This AWD version offers a range of about 340 miles on a single charge.

We will have to wait for the sales data from the second quarter of 2026 to see if regular people actually want the truck at a lower price. If the new £44,000 price tag works, we should see the number of SpaceX purchases go down. If SpaceX is still the main buyer, it will prove that regular drivers are just not interested.

There is nothing illegal about SpaceX buying trucks from Tesla. But trying to tell the world that the Cybertruck is a success while your own companies are the only ones buying them is a bit like a chef eating all the food in his own restaurant and claiming it's a "sell-out." The Cybertruck is a very bold design, but it needs more than just Elon Musk's approval to survive.

Via