Tesla's chief designer accidentally smashed a $61K Cybertruck's 'armor glass' window with a metal ball. Now he says it was a 'great marketing moment'

Photo of Elon Musk (Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP—Getty Images)

• During the 2019 reveal of the Tesla Cybertruck, the company’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, threw steel balls at the truck to demonstrate its sturdiness, but instead shattered two windows. In a recent interview, von Holzhausen said the mishap became a “great marketing moment.” Tesla began selling T-shirts alluding to the accident, and CEO Elon Musk claimed the company saw 200,000 orders for Cybertrucks in the days following its launch.

Some may call Franz von Holzhausen’s accidental destruction of a Tesla Cybertruck window a blunder; von Holzhausen would prefer to call it a “great meme” instead.