Tesla Will Wind Down Cybertruck Production Next Year, Musk Says

Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas factory next year, Elon Musk said, clearing the line to build more of its self-driving Cybercab cars.

Musk did not say whether Tesla plans to stop making the truck entirely or shift production elsewhere. But he framed the decision as capacity management: the Cybercab needs the room.

The project's lead engineer, Wes Morrill, went further. "Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab," he wrote on X. That reads like a eulogy.

What do the numbers say about the Cybertruck's run?

The truck attracted diehard fans but never matched Musk's ambitions commercially. Announced in 2019 with a distinctive angular body made of stainless steel, it suffered years of delays before its 2023 launch and posted disappointing sales numbers since.

The early demand signals looked strong. Despite an inauspicious public introduction in 2019 — when Musk tried to show off the Cybertruck's apparently unbreakable glass and it shattered during a live demonstration — the vehicle racked up 146,000 orders while still in development, Musk said at the time.

Delivery reality proved harder. The truck launched in 2023 at $61,000 (then £48,000) for the version with all the "bells and whistles," after Musk had told Wall Street analysts: "We need to make it at a price that people can afford." In 2026, the so-called "Cyberbeast" model comes in at $102,000.

Several recalls compounded the reputational drag. One in 2025 affected more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over concerns that part of the trim could fall off.

How did Musk and the fans react?

Tesla fans have been mourning the news online. One user called it "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made" as he lamented it being "discontinued next year." Musk replied with the word "true," then added: "But the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time."

The truck was always a passion project for its founder. In March, Musk said it was "way more awesome than people realise." In April, he called it the "best product Tesla has ever made to date."

Consumers and critics were split. Fans praised the retro-futuristic look, with some saying it looked like something "straight out of Blade Runner." Detractors joked about its appearance and labelled it "ugly as sin."

Why the Cybercab is the priority now?

Beyond aesthetics, the Cybertruck faced a structural question: whether it could cut through and earn a spot in the US' lucrative truck market, where established pickups dominate. The sales record and the 2025 recall wave suggest it never fully did.

Morrill's framing points to where Tesla thinks the value went. In his telling, the truck's purpose was partly to serve as a testbed — "an incredible technology development platform" — whose engineering now carries forward into the Cybercab, the autonomous two-seater Tesla is betting its next chapter on.

For a company pinning its valuation story on self-driving, dedicating Texas factory capacity to robotaxis rather than a slow-selling pickup is the arithmetic talking.

The takeaway in plain words: Tesla is trading a niche truck for its robotaxi bet, and Musk has effectively confirmed the Cybertruck's production days are numbered.