Tesla flip-flops on Cybertruck resale ban

Tesla Inc. threatened to sue Cybertruck buyers for $50,000 if they resold the truck within a year, but it removed the clause last week after getting blowback over the unusual restriction.

The reversal sparked even more speculation about Tesla's motivations, suggesting to some analysts that the electric vehicle maker headed by Elon Musk doesn't expect to produce large volumes of the Cybertruck, which it originally promised to release in 2021.

Automakers rarely bar customers from reselling vehicles except when small production runs inflate prices on the secondary market. Ford Motor Co. sued wrestler John Cena in 2017 for flipping a GT supercar in less than a month; they eventually settled.

"Elon and company were very clearly viewing this as a limited-production vehicle," Stephen Beck, managing partner of consultancy cg42, told Business Insider.

Tesla plans to deliver the first Cybertruck on Nov. 30. Ahead of that event, it added a Cybertruck-specific section to the order agreement on its website barring resale within a year of delivery.

"Tesla may seek injunctive relief to prevent the transfer of title of the Vehicle or demand liquidated damages from you in the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater," the agreement said. "Tesla may also refuse to sell you any future vehicles."

The clause said owners who had a good reason to sell their Cybertruck could contact the company, which would then evaluate the request and either agree to buy it back — for the original price, minus mileage, wear and tear, and any repair costs — or allow someone else to buy it.

Shortly after various media began reporting on the resale ban, the section was quietly deleted without explanation.