I can't imagine why would a company want to sell a product at a profit.
I can't imagine why would a company want to sell a product at a profit.
Tesla Model Y:
$39,000 in 2019, the same year the Cybertruck was announced - https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/tesla-unveils-mod...
$31,490 today - https://www.tesla.com/compare
So, a price cut then. From the same company, on the same time horizon.
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Even on longer timelines, inflation isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Tesla Model S:
$57,400 in 2009 - https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-motors-sets-new-pri...
$68,490 today - https://www.tesla.com/compare
Thats a 19.32% price increase in one of Tesla's other cars over 15 years, compared to a 52.857% price increase of the Cybetruck in the 5 years between it being announced and today.
Today that price is $79k. ($99k if you want the first-edition Foundation series which has been the only one delivered to customers so far).
CPI inflation calculation puts $49k in 2019 as $60k today. So inflation means the price should have gone up ~$10k, but it has actually gone up ~$30k.
Also in 2019, $69k was supposed to get you 500 miles of range. The highest range configuration of the truck they shipped is 340 miles, with potentially up to 470 miles if you fill half the bed with an additional $16k battery pack that is only installable/removable by a Tesla Service Center. Nobody has seen this pack demonstrated yet or how it will handle things like Supercharging. Having half the bed taken up to achieve the max range was definitely not part of the 2019 sales pitch.
The cybertruck was promissed as a cheaper way to make cars, its more expensive tha n the others that suffered the same inflationary forces. Save that its a new product, if they trusted that scale was going to cheap it down more than they current methods they would take a loss at the start to make a larger profit later.
[1] https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2019?amount=1
Should the price have remained the same? Or was 2022 not the highest year for USD inflation in 40 years (see: your own source.)
Is a company only allowed to increase their prices at a rate pegged to monetary inflation?
You say they have the right to brake promises, which is true.
So we agree they made a promise, broke it and raised the price beyond inflation, likely due to screwing up the production cost targets. All of that after they took reservations.
So we agree but you don't like that we're judging them badly for it?
If they want to avoid a reputation for dishonesty, yes.