A deal with Tesla was set to make one South Korean business a staggering $2.9 billion, but this was slashed to just $7,386, and reports suggest the Cybertruck is to blame.
Tesla unveiled the divisive Cybertruck back in 2019 with initial plans to go into production in 2021.
However, the truck was hit with numerous delays, and the first deliveries didn’t happen until late 2023.
Since then, sales figures have revealed that the Cybertruck hasn’t exactly set the world alight – and Tesla isn’t the only company to feel the hit.
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A deal with Tesla made one company very rich, but then things took a turn
About three years ago, ahead of the release of the Cybertruck, Tesla struck a deal with South Korean battery material maker L&F.
The agreement would see the L&F supplying important materials for Tesla’s in-house 4680 battery cells, which are primarily used in the Cybertruck.
Varun Palaniappan/Unsplash
According to Bloomberg, the agreement was set to kick off in January 2024 and continue until December 2025, and was worth a projected $2.9 billion.
The huge deal was enough to see L&F chairman and CEO Hur Jae-hong and his family flying up the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, thanks to their shares in the company.
However, at the end of last year, it was reported that the deal had shrunk to $7,386, wiping 99 percent of the original projected value of the deal.
L&F said this steep reduction was simply due to a change in supply quantity.
And analysts told Reuters that the change in quantity was likely due to Tesla’s struggle to scale up 4680 battery cell production for the ‘slow-selling’ Cybertruck.
Samsung Securities senior analyst Cho Hyun-ryul told the publication there had also been an overall slowdown in EV demand and that other battery suppliers had reported similar reduced orders.
Varun Palaniappan/Unsplash
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The Cybertruck has had a bit of a rough ride
Prior to the launch of the Cybertruck, Tesla boss Elon Musk predicted that the company could sell as many as 250,000 units per year.
But things didn’t quite work out that way.
Although the truck did have an initial flurry of interest, in its first year of sales, Tesla sold just under 40,000 units, according to Forbes.
And sales continued to slump.
Tesla
In the second quarter of 2025, sales of the truck totaled just 4,306 units.
Despite its lackluster sales, Musk has stood by the Cybertruck and hailed it as ‘the best ever’ vehicle from Tesla.
A timeline of the Tesla Cybertruck
November 2019: Cybertruck prototype is publicly unveiled
Late 2021: Production meant to begin
2022: Production target is postponed
January 2023: Tesla confirmed production would begin later that year
July 2023: First Cybertruck assembled at Gigafactory Texas
November 2023: Serial production begins
November 2023: First customer delivery event, as first Cybertucks are delivered
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