Tesla to showcase Cybertruck in South Korea next week

Tesla Inc., the world’s No. 2 electric vehicle maker, is set to showcase its electric full-size pickup Cybertruck in South Korea, home to its smaller rivals Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., as early as next week, industry sources in Seoul said on Monday.

The Cybertruck is also likely to appear at a Tesla light show in the country arranged by owners of the company’s eco-friendly vehicles in April, according to the sources.

“About 900 Tesla cars will gather at the parking lot of the Suwon World Cup Stadium,” said an official of the event called K-Light Show. The soccer field is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Seoul.

Tesla owners across the world hold such shows, during which they synchronize music to their EVs’ various lights. Drivers of the US company’s EVs in Finland started the event last year and Tesla owners in Israel hosted the show earlier this year.

CYBERTRUCK IN CHINA

Tesla has been showcasing the Cybertruck in eight major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen since last month to boast its technology in the world’s largest EV market where local makers such as the global top BYD Co. are rapidly expanding their market shares.

The US EV maker is scheduled to introduce the futuristic-looking pickup in Japan. Tesla’s Japanese unit released a video of loading the Cybertruck into an airplane on Feb. 6 on its X platform, formerly Twitter.

Tesla plans to sell the model only in the US for now as its production falls far short of demand.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the pre-orders for the Cybertruck have topped 1 million but the production would initially be low due to various new technologies during a quarterly earnings call in October last year. The company aims to ramp up the Cybertruck’s annual output to 250,000 units by 2025.

Unveiled as a concept in 2019, the vehicle was first delivered in November 2023 in the US.

The vehicle, equipped with special steel preventing exterior corrosion and bullet-proof windows, has three trims. The highest-end version, known as the Cyberbeast, is priced at $99,990, sporting 845 horsepower and offering a 320-mile range from one full charge.

The cheapest rear-wheel drive trim with a price tag of $60,990 won’t be available until 2025.

Write to Su-Jeon Baek at jerry@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.