Tesla Chief Designer: Accidentally destroying Cybertruck Windows was a “great marketing opportunity”

During the revelation of the 2019 Revelation of Tesla Cybertruck, Von Holzhausen, the company’s chief designer, launched steel balls on the vehicle, the intention of demonstrating that the CEO of Windows, Elon Musk, had been composed of “glass of armor” was indeed very difficult. The windows, however, broke unexpectedly, leaving Musk to deliver the rest of its presentation of the new truck while standing in front of the damaged car. Tesla’s stock fell by more than 5% the next day.

While the incident seemed to be an omen, indicative that the Cybertruck was ready to fail, the sloppy demonstration actually opened the possibility of giving the new model a projector, said Van Holzhausen in an interview with Tesla Club Austria published on Saturday.

“It was only one of these things in Murphy’s law where something happened, but it turned out to be a great meme,” said Von Holzhausen, referring to the phenomenon of when something can go wrong, he will generally do. “And I think that in a strange way – we do not do marketing, but it has turned into a great moment of marketing.”

“It was not a while expected, but at that time, you have to ride with it,” he added.

After the revelation of the vehicle, Musk published a video on X Van Holzhausen launching a steel ball on the Cybertruck model before its launch, with its windows resistant to the launch without visible damage. The video was viewed more than 6 million times within three days of its publication.

“I guess we have some improvements to make before haha production,” Musk wrote.

A few days later, Musk praised the success of the launch of Cybertruck, saying that Tesla had received more than 200,000 orders for the vehicle. Although Tesla does not break the Cybertruck numbers when it brings in profits, grouping them rather with the S and X models, the company recalled almost all the cybertrucks it had on the road earlier this year due to a problem where an external panel could detach itself, and that only managed to do 46,000 vehicles.

More important problems than broken windows

Despite the optimism of Musk’s pre -order, the launch of Cybertruck bon bonuses was a sign of things to come for the vehicle. Although Musk initially praised the truck sold at only $ 39,900 when it had to arrive on the market at the end of 2021, the cybertruck was faced with years of delays, its debut in November 2023 with a price of $ 60,990.

Tesla tried to recover the broken glass incident with a t-shirt of $ 45 sold on its website, but the brand developed a reputation other than other parts of the Internet, in particular as concerns mounted on the safety of the tire monitoring system, which has been reduced by a new reminder. March.

To stack his troubles, several deaths occurred after accidents from Cybertruck. An unjustified death trial allegedly alleged that the truck had defective security mechanisms after a man in Houston died in a crushed cybertruck that caught fire.

Safety problems and reminders associated with Cybertruck have coincided with the failing sales of the truck. The vehicle’s request remained stable last year, but the cybertrucks are now accumulating in lots while dealers navigate on stocks of unwanted vehicles. Last quarter, COX Automotive said that Cybertruck sales dropped 51% on the other for only 4,300 vehicles, overshadowed by the Ford F-150 Lightning and the GMC Hummer EV truck while inherited brands take on market dynamics.

“It is enough to say that the market for hyper-competitive electric vehicles does not provide any relief to the automaker,” said Cox Automotive in its report.

Tesla did not respond to FortuneComment request.