Seven-year Cybertruck wait ends as Tesla gives Australian and Kiwi buyers their money back

Tesla formally ended the wait for Cybertruck buyers in Australia and New Zealand on 23 October. Customers received emails confirming that their orders are void and that their deposits will be returned. The cancellation marks the end of a nearly seven-year reservation period that began in November 2019.

The notification email stated that Tesla is unable to fulfil the reservations after careful consideration. The company confirmed that full refunds will be processed within 30 days. For customers who switch their orders to a new Model 3 or Model Y, Tesla is offering a free one-year subscription to FSD Supervised. This incentive appears designed to convert cancelled pickup truck reservations into sales of existing right-hand-drive vehicles.

The central obstacle for the truck in these regions is its left-hand-drive configuration. Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Japan all require right-hand-drive vehicles. Tesla has not produced a right-hand-drive version of the Cybertruck. Additionally, Australia requires specific certification under its own design rules, a costly process for a vehicle facing weak demand in North America.

Reservation numbers were once high for the region. A 2020 crowdsourced survey placed Australia third in global reservations, behind the United States and Canada. By 2023, total reservations tracked at roughly 2 million worldwide. Tesla quietly closed the Australian reservation page in May 2022 but did not issue refunds at that time. In 2024, Elon Musk told shareholders that certification for other markets might happen the following year, but no right-hand-drive model followed.

Current sales figures suggest a redesign may not be justified. Tesla reported 8,295 deliveries in its 'Other Models' category for the third quarter of 2026. This category is now almost entirely the Cybertruck, as Model S and Model X production has ended. Estimates place quarterly Cybertruck sales at 7,000 to 8,000 units. This translates to roughly 30,000 units per year, well below the production line's annual capacity of 250,000.

The truck's international rollout has remained limited to left-hand-drive countries. Deliveries began in South Korea late last year and in the UAE in January. Configurers later appeared in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Israel. The vehicle remains blocked in the EU primarily due to pedestrian safety concerns. Tesla has yet to announce a timeline for a right-hand-drive model or a return to the Australian market.

Australian and New Zealand buyers had the option to reserve the truck for a A$150 deposit starting in November 2019. The 2023 model year truck that arrived for a display tour in Australia was more expensive and offered less range than originally promised. US sales for the vehicle have also fallen sharply from approximately 39,000 units in 2024. The refund process begins immediately for all valid reservations in the region.