Tesla Cancels Cybertruck RHD: No Launch for Australia or New Zealand

Tesla has officially told Cybertruck reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that the truck will not be coming to their markets. After years of speculation about whether a Right-Hand Drive (RHD) variant was still on the roadmap, the company has confirmed the decision internally and begun refunding deposits — closing the door on Cybertruck sales across every RHD market globally.

As a goodwill gesture, Tesla is offering affected reservation holders one free year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) if they order a new Model 3 or Model Y by the end of 2026. The announcement was shared via emails to reservation holders and surfaced publicly on X late on October 22.

What Tesla Told Reservation Holders

According to the email circulating on social media, Tesla's message to Australian and New Zealand reservation holders reads, in part: “After careful consideration, plans to” bring Cybertruck to the region have been shelved. The company is issuing full refunds of reservation deposits and framing the FSD (Supervised) offer as compensation for the cancellation.

Whole Mars Catalog, one of the first accounts to flag the move, summed it up bluntly: “Unfortunately it looks like Tesla has decided not to produce a Right Hand Drive Cybertruck.” That is the key piece of news here — this is not just an Australia/New Zealand retreat. It is confirmation that no RHD Cybertruck is being tooled up at Giga Texas, which also rules out the UK, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, India, and much of Southeast Asia.

Key Figures

How We Got Here

The writing has been on the wall for a while. Tesla paused Cybertruck reservations in Australia as early as May 2022, and Australian regulators had long flagged concerns about the stainless-steel truck's exterior panel stiffness, pedestrian safety profile, and sheer dimensions relative to local Australian Design Rules (ADR). According to Australian outlets GoAuto and The Driven, local commentators had been openly skeptical for years that a compliant Cybertruck would ever reach the market.

Still, Tesla had never officially walked away. Many of the ~10,000+ Australians and New Zealanders who put down deposits held onto hope that a RHD variant was quietly in the works. Monday's email ends that uncertainty.

The decision also fits a broader pattern. Cybertruck demand in its home market has been softer than Tesla's early reservation numbers suggested, and the engineering investment to re-tool for a RHD variant — new dashboard, steering, wiring harness, airbag calibration, regulatory recertification — is substantial for what would be a comparatively small market. With Tesla reallocating Fremont capacity to Optimus and prioritizing Model Y L and Cybercab for 2026, Cybertruck RHD was always going to be a tough business case.

The FSD Offer, in Context

The free year of FSD (Supervised) sweetener comes with important fine print. Tesla ended outright FSD purchases in Australia and New Zealand on March 31, 2026, moving to a subscription-only model from April 1, 2026. That strongly suggests the “free year” being offered is a comped subscription rather than a transferable license — valuable, but not permanent.

FSD (Supervised) is still a relatively new product in both markets, and the subscription typically retails in the hundreds of Australian dollars per month. A full year free is a real incentive for reservation holders who were already Tesla-curious, but it only unlocks if they commit to a new Model 3 or Model Y order before the December 31, 2026 deadline.

What It Means for Owners and Prospective Buyers

For Australian and New Zealand Cybertruck reservation holders, the practical steps are straightforward: expect the deposit refund to process automatically, and decide whether a Model 3 or Model Y with a free year of FSD actually fits your needs. It is not a like-for-like replacement — a sedan or compact SUV is a very different vehicle from a 3-ton pickup — but it is a meaningful discount on ownership for anyone who was open to a Tesla regardless of body style.

For the broader RHD world, this is the clearest signal yet that Cybertruck will remain a left-hand-drive-only product for its entire lifecycle. UK, Japanese, Irish, South African, Indian, Thai, and Indonesian buyers can stop watching for a local launch. Grey imports via conversion specialists will remain the only route, and those come with insurance, warranty, and compliance headaches that most buyers won't want to deal with.

What to Watch Next

• Official Tesla statement. So far the news is confirmed through reservation holder emails and widely shared screenshots, but Tesla has not posted an official press release. Expect regional Tesla accounts to acknowledge the move in coming days.
• Reservation refund timing. Tesla has historically processed deposit refunds within 2-4 weeks. Watch for complaints or confirmations on Reddit's r/TeslaMotors and local owner forums.
• UK and Japan communications. If Tesla sends similar emails to UK or Japanese reservation holders in the coming weeks, that would formally close the book on Cybertruck RHD worldwide.
• Model Y L in RHD markets. With Cybertruck off the table, the longer-wheelbase six-seat Model Y L becomes the most interesting upcoming Tesla for RHD buyers wanting more space.

Tesla has made the call. The Cybertruck will live out its production life as a North America-focused product with limited LHD exports to continental Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. For everyone else holding a four-year-old reservation, the compensation is a year of FSD and a nudge toward the car Tesla would rather sell you anyway.

This report was curated by the BASENOR Editorial Desk from the sources listed above. Read our editorial standards or email editorial@basenor.com to report an error.