Tesla refunds two million Australians and New Zealanders after scrapping Cybertruck

Tesla voided 2 million Cybertruck reservations in Australia and New Zealand on 23 October, returning deposits to customers who have waited nearly seven years. The decision ends a long-standing uncertainty for buyers who paid A$150 to reserve the electric pickup as early as November 2019. Email notifications sent to reservation holders confirmed that the orders are cancelled and funds will be returned within 30 days.

The core issue is mechanical. The Cybertruck is manufactured exclusively in left-hand drive, while Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Japan require right-hand-drive vehicles. Converting the truck to meet these standards, along with Australia’s specific design certification rules, proved too expensive for Tesla. This cost barrier persists despite the vehicle's production line capacity of 250,000 units annually.

Tesla had previously hinted at an international expansion. In 2024, Elon Musk told shareholders that the company might certify the truck for other markets the following year. The company also shipped a Cybertruck to Australia for a display tour that same year. However, a right-hand-drive version never materialized, and Tesla quietly closed the Australian reservation page in May 2022, replacing it with a button to sign up for updates.

The cancellation follows Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings report. The company delivered 8,295 units of its "Other Models" category in that quarter, a group now dominated by the Cybertruck since production of the Model S and Model X ceased. Estimates place quarterly Cybertruck sales between 7,000 and 8,000 units, or roughly 30,000 per year. This figure is far below the vehicle's production capacity and reflects a sharp decline from approximately 39,000 units sold in 2024.

Customers who convert their cancelled reservations into a new Model 3 or Model Y will receive a free one-year subscription to Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Tesla’s international rollout has remained limited to left-hand-drive markets, including South Korea, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Israel. The vehicle remains blocked from entering the European Union, primarily due to pedestrian safety concerns.

Australia and New Zealand together have a combined population of about 33 million people. While a 2020 survey suggested Australia held about 3% of all global Cybertruck reservations, Tesla never confirmed regional figures. The company’s move signals a retreat from the right-hand-drive market, leaving the Cybertruck as a product focused largely on North America and select left-hand-drive regions.