Tesla Cybertruck Games of Power with Ford F-150 Are Good Marketing for Both Companies

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Teuta Franjkovic
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After a first, well. we could gently say – shock, Tesla’s Cybertruck doesn’t stop being controversial in any sense. This week is obviously reserved for Musk & Co. boasting around Twitter of how great and wonderful their new vehicle is (except the window glass but that will be repaired – Elon promised). And it’s worth mentioning that Tesla stock reacts positively (but slightly) to all this noise around the company.

The distinctive Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said how the company’s forthcoming Cybertruck is a “Better truck than an F-150, faster than a Porsche 911.” He supported his claims by posting a video of the Cybertruck prototype apparently pulling a Ford F-150 uphill.

Cybertruck pulls F-150 uphill pic.twitter.com/OfaqUkrDI3

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2019

However, Musk and Tesla didn’t precise which exact configurations of the Cybertruck or F-150, they used for the stunt. Also, some viewers criticized the whole adventure as not fair because, to speak the truth – Cybertruck all-wheel-drive pulling a rear-wheel-drive Ford F-150, doesn’t seem like a fair play to us too.

On Monday, Ford X Vice President Sundeep (Sunny) Madra went back at Musk, persuading him to send over a Cybertruck for an “apples to apples” tug-of-war test. However, even though Musk answered with “bring it on” this arena stage fight will probably never happen. Too bad though but Ford spokesman already confirmed that Sunny’s answers were only clasping back to Tesla’s “absurd” video.

Also, some cautious people among Musks’ audience said Tesla should be careful when putting its technology into the competitor’s hands. Be it as it may, this is probably just one of the ways of how to do great marketing and attract the audience (the same as it was smashing the Cybertruck’s windows with the steel ball).

Principal research analyst at Navigant Research and an engineer Sam Abuelsamid confirmed:

“Automakers do this kind of nonsense all the time, but Tesla takes it to the extreme.”

Ford also did something similar this summer when it took its EV F-150 prototype to a train yard and pulled 42 F-150s loaded on 10 double-decker rail cars. Ford has announced recently it is partnering with Rivian, to make its push into electric vehicles.

Ford, its partner Rivian, and General Motors are all expected to come up with the new electric pickups to market before or during the same time as the Tesla Cybertruck. Tesla said it should be nearing the start of production for the Cybertruck in late 2021.

Be it as it may, if such a contest does ever become a reality, experts agree the best would be to put Ford’s all-electric F-150 prototype against the Tesla Cybertruck prototype. Or, as Abuelsamid proposed, both carmakers could use towing tests by SAE International, which assists in setting industry regulations and standards.

Still, Musk tweeted that he’ll aim to make this stunt happen, with a webcast, next week.

Physicist Approach: We All Love Torque

A celebrity Musk fan, physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, seems not to be so sure in Cybertruck’s superior performance against an equivalent Ford truck.

He tweeted to the Tesla CEO.

We all love Torque. But high Torque just spins a tire in place if there’s not enough weight to provide traction. Fully load the F150, giving highest traction to its rear wheels, then try to drag that up the hill. I otherwise agree: Load both to the max and the highest torque wins

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 26, 2019

Still, this kind of marketing could be good for Ford that, as the last report says, is pretty much strapped for cash. Even though it is holding approximately $37 billion in cash, experts say that, with facing so many challenges over the next few years, the company has to hold on to every penny.

That includes a multi-year restructuring in Europe and South America, that will cost an estimated $7 billion in cash. Then $11.5 billion should be spent on refreshing its F-series pickup line as well as its Mustang Mach E crossover announced last week. Bond analysts say that car making is such a cash-intensive business that Ford needs to make sure its cash balance stays above $20 billion to cope with a recession whenever it may come.

Stocks Reaction

But what’s happening with the stocks of both companies?

At the time of writing Tesla stock was in the green in premarket trading rising 0.97% to $332.12. But we can’t speak about any significant growth pf its stock price. Even a couple of days ago, as we have reported, it was trading higher, at $354.83. Despite some price falls in June, when the stock was trading at around $180-190, if we compare the current prices with the prices observed a year ago, we can say that they are practically the same.

As for Ford stock, it is in a slight fall by 0.22% to $8.99. However, it is not its best performance. In summer it was trading at around $10 and even higher. But we can notice that after falling to %7 last December, the price stays comparatively stable.

Author: Teuta Franjkovic

Experienced creative professional focusing on financial and political analysis, editing daily newspapers and news sites, economical and political journalism, consulting, PR and Marketing. Teuta’s passion is to create new opportunities and bring people together.

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