In his soon-to-be-released book "Elon Musk," author Walter Isaacson reveals that he spent three years closely observing Musk. He noted that Tesla’s head designer, Franz von Holzhausen, confirmed that not many within the company were enthusiastic about the Cybertruck's design.
“A majority of the people in this studio hated it,” the designer said in an excerpt seen by Insider. “They were like, ‘You can’t be serious.’ They didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It was just too weird.”
When a prototype of the Cybertruck was showcased at SpaceX’s exhibition space in Los Angeles in 2019, some engineers were so disappointed that they covertly started working on their own design.
It’s still a mystery what happened to this alternate design, unless someone involved decides to share anonymous pictures. Tesla's leadership had varying reactions to the skepticism expressed by their staff.
“Von Holzhausen, who is as gentle as Musk is brusque, spent time listening carefully to their concerns. ‘If you don’t have buy-in from the people around you, it’s hard to get things done,’ he says,” Isaacson wrote.
Musk, on the other hand, was “less patient” and dismissive of the concerns raised by his team. "I don't do focus groups," he said. Instead of modifying the design, he ordered the creation of a functional concept model for demonstration purposes, which “forced the team to come together, work twenty-four-seven,” according to von Holzhausen. Once the objective was met, Musk took Grimes for a date to Nobu, riding in the prototype.
From the beginning, Musk was adamant about the Cybertruck's unique, angular appearance and instructed his design team not to contradict him. While a recent study suggests that the Cybertruck will need to attract a new clientele not typically interested in pickup trucks, concerns about its stainless steel exterior causing smudging and safety issues remain.
Source: Carscoops
