With Tesla, people often forget several asymmetric advantages they have right now:

1. They do no marketing saving a significant % of revenue where traditional automakers in hyper-competitive situations must
2. They capture most of the sale price of the car due to a lack of dealer commission/cost meaning significant margin/pricing advantages
3. The perceived value of their cars (e.g. resale value) is much higher due to most of the car being “updatable” via software
4. They have vertically integrated the energy storage (batteries) and source (superchargers) giving a distinct technology and cost advantage (some of which passes onto their customers)

As they scale, it will be interesting to see which of these erode first.

Futuristic, polarizing design aside, I actually think the Cybertruck is brilliant on multiple levels. First, the specs are off the chart when compared to the truck market today. Second, by doing an exoskeleton design (vs. traditional frame) they have key disruptive advantages that competitors cannot easily respond to. Finally, even though they compared it to the F-150, its smart to market this to a niche (and possibly new) truck buying audience. Expanding the market is always a better path but not always available. Besides the technical advantages in manufacturing, the planer design clearly puts people on the love/hate line and no one will have a hard time comparing and deciding vs. a traditional pick-up. Tesla runs on and builds enthusiasts. Why stop with their truck?