A curious sight has emerged in Scottsdale, Arizona, where a lot outside a shuttered movie theater has transformed into an impromptu storage area for hundreds of Tesla vehicles including a fleet of the much-discussed Cybertrucks; an overflow which has sparked a range of speculations and concerns about the electric vehicle market.
Industry insiders see the accumulating Teslas as an indication that the once insatiable demand for the electric car giant’s offerings is beginning to wane as Karl Brauer from iseecars.com articulates the issue as a clear sign that Tesla is manufacturing more vehicles than it can sell, necessitating a reduction in production to recalibrate with current demands Brauer noted to FOX 10, "If you see a lot full of brand-new Teslas, and it’s getting more and more all the time, it’s clear they are unable to find buyers for these cars, and they have to modulate their production capacity now," Meanwhile, Clay Felize from EV Access highlighted the appeal of electric vehicles in Phoenix and reported a robust rental scene particularly for Teslas, as he described to FOX 10 "There’s nothing better than moving forward as far as grabbing the way the vehicle market is going to move than electric vehicles,"
Contrary to the alarm that images of parked, unsold Teslas might trigger, employees at a nearby Tesla delivery center have another take, stating to 12News that the vehicles parked near Northsight Boulevard and Arriba Drive represent new inventory awaiting customer pickup as opposed to unsold inventory; explaining the adjacent delivery center simply lacks the capacity for such a number of cars, with logistical necessity dictating use of the movie theater lot.
Online speculation fanned flames concerning the electric automaker's situation with social media users churning theories ranging from an electric vehicle market downturn to mass buyer's remorse some of which were prompted by a viral post that gathered over 7.7 million views but Tesla employees pushed back on those notions conveying to 12News the reality of the scenario as being a consequence of the company's direct-to-customer online sales model, which differs from the traditional dealership approach. Evidence of the lot's use for Tesla storage also emerges in a Google Street View search dating back to at least 2021.
While Tesla has refrained from commenting on the parked vehicles, their silence speaks to a wider concern within the electric vehicle industry which also saw layoffs from Lucid Motors despite earlier assurances to the contrary, as detailed by spokespersons who confirmed cuts to salaried Arizona employees while sparing production workers. Karl Brauer, in his exchange with FOX 10, juxtaposed Tesla's early financial travails against younger companies like Lucid and Rivian, pondering their potential paths to profitability in years to come.
