Detroit suburb revolts as Tesla dumps Cybertrucks in mall parking lot

Tesla is allegedly storing dozens of Cybertrucks at a shopping center parking lot in Farmington Hills, Michigan just outside of Detroit, reported The Daily Beast on Wednesday — and the residents of this community are fed up with it.

"Some residents, who estimate they’ve seen up to 100 Cybertrucks left in the shopping center’s parking lot, initially assumed the trucks were unsold inventory from a nearby dealership," reported Paulina Rodriguez. But when CBS Detroit spoke with Tesla employees, they said the vehicles in question were in fact sold and are just being temporarily stored at the shopping center until being shipped to owners.

Tesla further said that particular shopping center was chosen because the owner also owns a nearby Tesla service center.

However, according to the report, "City officials ... say Tesla never got their approval to use the lot, and that doing so is a clear violation of local policy," with local Farmington Hills planning director Charmaine Kettler-Schmult saying "storage of vehicles is not a permitted use" of the shopping center lot and the city is instructing the shopping center to remove them.

The Cybertruck, a pet project of tech billionaire Elon Musk, was projected to sell 250,000 units a year, but instead it has only sold 40,000 since the model was introduced in 2023.

The vehicle has suffered an avalanche of bad press criticizing its angular design, and many owners are complaining about issues including maintenance of the stainless steel body, critical software errors affecting power and steering, random braking by the autopilot, and defective accelerator pedals that led to a mass recall.

Musk has been advising President Donald Trump through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force. He formally left his role at the end of last month, but is widely expected to continue to hold some degree of influence over the White House.