Seven-Year Wait Ends: Cybertruck Reservations Voided Across Australia and New Zealand
Tesla has abruptly terminated plans to deliver its electric pickup to the Oceanian market, refunding deposits and directing customers to other models.
By Brianna Jackson ·
For nearly seven years, prospective buyers in Australia and New Zealand have held onto hopes for a rugged electric pickup, but those hopes were extinguished this week. Tesla has officially abandoned plans to release the Cybertruck in these regions, issuing emails to reservation holders that declare their orders void.
The correspondence, which began circulating on social media platforms and Reddit this morning, stated, "After careful consideration, plans to produce Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand have been discontinued." The message further clarified, "As a result, we're unable to fulfil your reservation and it will be cancelled."
The financial history for these customers dates back to November 2019, when individuals began paying A$150 to secure a spot in line. Tesla has assured that all deposits will be refunded in full within 30 days. To retain interest, the company is offering a complimentary one-year subscription to FSD (Supervised) for any customer who chooses to purchase a new Model 3 or Model Y instead.
The cancellation notice arrived just one day after Tesla released its third-quarter earnings for 2026. While the company once viewed these markets with potential, a crowdsourced survey from 2020 ranked Australia as the third largest market for the vehicle, holding roughly 3% of all global reservations, a figure that contributed to a total reservation count of approximately 2 million by 2023.
The path to this cancellation has been marked by delays. Tesla closed its Australian reservation portal in May 2022, replacing it with a notification button, yet failed to refund deposits at that time. Although a display model toured the region in 2024 and executives suggested certification for other markets was possible in the near future, the timeline slipped repeatedly.
The fundamental barrier preventing delivery has been engineering constraints. The vehicle is currently manufactured exclusively in left-hand drive configuration, while Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Japan require right-hand drive. Australia additionally mandates compliance with specific national design rules, a costly investment for a vehicle facing demand issues in North America.
Recent sales figures highlight the lack of momentum for the Cybertruck. The company delivered 8,295 units in the category encompassing this vehicle in the third quarter of 2026, a category that now consists almost entirely of the pickup since other production ceased. This pace is far below the production capacity of 250,000 units annually for which the line was designed.
Consequently, Tesla is not pursuing new international launches in left-hand-drive markets, though recent activity has occurred in regions like South Korea and the UAE. The vehicle remains unavailable in the European Union due to pedestrian safety regulations. The refusal to invest in right-hand-drive tooling for markets with a combined population of roughly 33 million indicates a strategy focused on liquidating existing inventory rather than expanding access.
Source: Electrek
