Some 1,100 car shoppers said they'd rather buy an electric pickup truck from Ford or GM than Tesla's Cybertruck - but there's a silver lining for Tesla in the survey
- Tesla's Cybertruck may have a hard time converting Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado owners, but it might open up a new segment of the pickup-truck market, according to a survey from the automotive research site Autolist.
- The roughly 1,100 respondents were asked, assuming they had to buy one and their specs were similar, whether they would prefer General Motors' upcoming electric pickup truck, the electric version of Ford's F-150, the Rivian R1T, or Tesla's Cybertruck.
- The Cybertruck received the fewest votes overall, and performed even worse among current or former pickup truck owners.
- But among those who have never owned a pickup truck, the Cybertruck was the favorite.
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Tesla's Cybertruck may have a hard time converting Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado owners, but it might open up a new segment of the pickup truck market, according to a survey from the automotive research site Autolist.
The roughly 1,100 respondents were asked, assuming they had to buy one and their specs were similar, whether they would prefer General Motors' upcoming electric pickup truck, the electric version of Ford's F-150, the Rivian R1T, or Tesla's Cybertruck. They voted as follows:
- GM electric pickup truck: 29%
- Electric Ford F-150: 27%
- Rivian R1T: 24%
- Tesla Cybertruck: 20%
Respondents who have owned a pickup truck expressed an even stronger preference for GM and Ford, with 63% of them saying they would prefer one of the company's electric pickups. Just 14% of current or former pickup-truck owners chose the Cybertruck, while 23% chose the Rivian R1T.
But among those who have never owned a pickup truck, the Cybertruck was the favorite, getting 25.8% of the vote, just above the Rivian R1T, which received 24.8%.
The survey suggests that Tesla may have more difficulty attracting current pickup truck owners (who tend to be particularly loyal to a single brand) than it has had persuading BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota owners to purchase its Model 3 sedan. Yet the Cybertruck's popularity among survey respondents who have never bought a pickup truck indicates that Tesla may be able to bring new customers into the pickup market.
The survey's assumption that the specs on each pickup truck will be similar is also significant, as the Cybertruck's listed specs top those of the R1T and 2020 F-150 in areas like maximum payload and towing capacity. Ford and GM have yet to disclose many details about their upcoming electric pickup trucks.
To be sure, the Cybertruck's styling is polarizing but that hasn't stopped the excitement among potential customers. Since its November unveiling, the Cybertruck has attracted at least 250,000 refundable $100 preorders.
Read Autolist's full survey here.
Are you a current or former Tesla employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can ask for more secure methods of communication, like Signal or ProtonMail, by email or Twitter direct message.
- Read more:
- Elon Musk drove the controversial Tesla Cybertruck near Los Angeles 2 years before its planned release
- Tesla changed the release dates for the most and least expensive versions of the Cybertruck by a year
- The Tesla Cybertruck is the first stainless-steel vehicle since the ill-fated DeLorean - here's a closer look at both
- Why the Cybertruck is a breakthrough for Tesla and designer Franz von Holzhausen
