Tesla gives 2 million Australians and New Zealanders their Cybertruck money back

Tesla voided two million Cybertruck reservations in Australia and New Zealand on October 23. The company emailed customers to say their orders are cancelled and their deposits will be returned. This decision ends a wait of almost seven years for buyers who placed orders in late 2019. The refund process will take place within 30 days of the notification.

The email to customers stated that plans to produce the truck for these regions have been discontinued. Tesla added that it is unable to fulfill the reservations. Customers who choose to order a new Model 3 or Model Y instead will receive a one-year subscription to Full Self-Driving Supervised. This offer appears designed to convert dead reservations into sales of right-hand-drive vehicles that Tesla already manufactures. The notifications arrived one day after Tesla released its third-quarter 2026 earnings report.

The primary obstacle to the Cybertruck in these markets is the driving configuration. The truck is built exclusively in left-hand drive. Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Japan require right-hand-drive vehicles. Australia also requires certification under its own design rules, a costly process for a vehicle facing weak demand in North America.

Tesla had previously shown interest in the Australian market. In 2024, Elon Musk told shareholders that the company might certify the truck for other markets the following year. The company also shipped a Cybertruck to Australia for a display tour that same year. However, no right-hand-drive version ever followed. Tesla quietly closed the Australian reservation page in May 2022, replacing it with a button to get updates, but did not refund customers at that time.

Sales figures suggest the truck is becoming a niche product. Tesla delivered 8,295 units categorized as 'Other Models' in the third quarter of 2026. This category now consists almost entirely of the Cybertruck. Electrek estimates quarterly sales at 7,000 to 8,000 units. This annualized rate is far below the production line capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year.

The company has limited its international rollout to left-hand-drive countries. Deliveries started in South Korea in late 2025 and in the UAE in January 2026. Configurators have appeared in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Israel. The truck remains blocked in the European Union, largely due to pedestrian safety concerns. Australia and New Zealand together have a combined population of about 33 million people.

Crowdsourced surveys in 2020 placed Australia as the third largest market for Cybertruck reservations behind the United States and Canada. By 2023, tracking data indicated total reservations in the region reached roughly 2 million. Tesla has not officially confirmed these regional figures. The decision to cancel these orders leaves the electric pickup as a largely American product for the time being.