Tesla is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China — but it won't be on sale

• Tesla is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China, per a company WeChat post reported by Reuters.
• However, it's unlikely to be on sale in China soon, with Elon Musk saying it'll be hard to make legal.
• It comes as Tesla tries to fight off a new wave of competition from Chinese EV makers such as BYD.

Tesla fans in China are set to get their first proper look at the Cybertruck.

Elon Musk's company is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China to show off its futuristic pickup, according to a company post on WeChat reported by Reuters.

Tesla didn't say when this tour would take place, but it will reportedly include a number of cities with fans able to vote on where the Cybertruck goes first, per Electrek.

It's likely to be more of a marketing stunt for Tesla than a sales push, though. Elon Musk has previously hinted at the plan, posting on X on Sunday that Tesla could ship some Cybertruck prototypes to China for display.

However, he admitted that getting the pickup to comply with local regulations to make it road-legal would be "very difficult."

The "Blade Runner"-inspired truck is only on sale in North America, and faces numerous obstacles before becoming available in other markets.

Bulky pickup trucks like the Cybertruck are far less popular in China than they are in the US, with 46,000 sold in November 2023 compared to 224,000 in the US.

They have also traditionally faced tight restrictions on entering cities, though some regions have relaxed those rules in recent years and the market for pickup trucks in the country has expanded, with Chinese automaker Geely unveiling its own electric truck in 2022.

It comes as Tesla faces a new wave of competition in its second-largest market.

The Warren Buffett-backed electric carmaker BYD recently overtook Tesla as the world's largest EV producer, and a range of Chinese tech companies including smartphone makers Huawei and Xiaomi launched their own EVs last year.

Having laughed off BYD a decade ago, Musk is now far more wary of the threat to Tesla from China, telling The New York Times Dealbook summit that the Asian superpower was "by far" the company's most competitive market.

"There's a lot of people out there who think that the top ten car companies are going to be Tesla followed by nine Chinese car companies. I think they might not be wrong," Musk said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.