Tesla cancels Cybertruck in Australia and New Zealand after seven years of deposits and no deliveries

News

Elon courts controversy once again... this time down under.

GE

George East

26 October 2026 · 3 min read

Tesla has cancelled the Cybertruck in truck-loving Australia and New Zealand, after seven years of promises and zero deliveries.

The Elon Musk-owned EV manufacturer says that desposits will be returned to Australian buyers who put down $150 AUD (around £79 at the time of writing) in November 2017 for what was supposed to be a $39,900 (approximately £21,000) Cybertruck. The same is expected for Kiwi customers.

On Friday, October 23 – the day after Tesla reported in Q3 2026 earnings – the firm sent the following email to deposit holders: “After careful consideration, plans to produce Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand have been discontinued. As a result, we’re unable to fulfil your reservation and it will be cancelled.”

Refunds will be processed within 30 days, and Tesla is offering a free one-year supervised FSD package to Cybertruck deposit holders who order a new Model 3 or Model Y. In Australia, the Basic Autopilot FSD package is priced at $149 AUD (£78.50).

The Cybertruck could have been a hit amongst buyers down under. Alongside ‘ute’ culture, a crowdsourced survey of reservations from 2020 placed the region as the third biggest behind the United States, making up 3% of all Cybertruck reservations. Combined, the populations of New Zealand and Australia would have comprised a market of around 33 million.

Fast-forward to May 2022, and Tesla closed its Australian Cybertruck reservation page, which was replaced with a “Get updates” call-to-action button. However, no desposits were refunded and buyers were left waiting.

The saga then rolled on into 2024. Tesla shipped a Cybertruck down under for a promotional tour, and Musk told shareholders: “We might be able to certify it for other markets sometime next year.” The truck never got a right-hand-drive (RHD) option.

Here-in lies the problem: The Tesla Cybertruck is built in left-hand-drive (LHD) only and has a complex drive-by-wire steering system. Converting it to the demands of the RHD Australian market would require additional certification under Australian law, along with a technical redesign to adhere to the market’s safety legislation.

None of this makes financial sense given the sales flop that the Cybertruck has been. Originally, Tesla expected to shift over 250,000 units annually. During the last quarter, it sold between 7,000 to 8,000 of them. In addition to the United States, LHD export markets include South Korea, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel.

Undoubtedly, the Cybertruck has not been the success that Tesla expected. As the firm switches its focus towards automated vehicles and rockets, it remains to be seen whether the Cybertruck will – or can – survive for much longer.