Elon Musk said on Nov. 6 that Tesla will phase out Cybertruck production at its Texas plant starting in mid-2027, after the electric pickup failed to meet sales targets.
“Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production,” Musk said in a post on X.
However, Musk suggested that Tesla would continue production of the Cybertruck. When an X user commented, “end of an era,” Musk replied, “True, but the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time.”
The first Cybertruck rolled off the assembly line at the gigafactory in Austin in July 2023, two years behind schedule, but sales have never come close to the 250,000–500,000 units per year Musk originally predicted.
Falling Cybertruck Sales
Vehicle valuation company Kelley Blue Book said only 20,237 Cybertrucks sold in the United States last year, down from 38,965 the previous year.
Ford’s electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, also fell in sales, from 33,510 to 27,307 in the same period, as did the Rivian R1T, which fell from 11,085 to 7,416.
Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill posted on X that he would continue to follow the “adventures” of the Cybertruck owner community.
“Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab,” Morrill wrote. “Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the future looking like the future.”
Tesla struggled to export Cybertruck to Europe because its sharp-edged stainless-steel design made it hard to get regulatory approval amid concerns about pedestrian impact.
“Anywhere where you have crash regulation that takes into account pedestrian impact, that Cybertruck won’t go, can’t go,” former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said.
“It doesn’t make sense to keep it going when it’s not meeting its targets. Every rational auto guy would say the same. … The statistics speak for themselves.”
It was not immediately clear whether Cybertruck production would move to another plant.
The Epoch Times reached out to Tesla for comment but did not receive a response.
‘Autonomous Future’
Musk has made Cybercab central to his hopes of a global fleet of robotaxis.
Cybercab is a two-seat, gold-colored electric vehicle designed to operate without a human driver. It has no steering wheel, brake pedals, or traditional side mirrors.
In September, Tesla held a closed-door Cybercab launch event in Austin, Texas. The following day, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into whether the vehicle was properly certified for public roads.
Existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards require manual controls such as brake pedals, but the Transportation Department is working to update some of those rules to accommodate fully autonomous vehicles.
A couple of Tesla’s “Cybercab” on the street in downtown Austin, Texas, on Sept. 3, 2026. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “With autonomy, you get your time back.”
Musk’s strategy appears to focus on artificial intelligence and robotics, not just automobiles.
“I came to the conclusion that the only way we’re going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots,” Musk said last month during an appearance on Walter Isaacson’s podcast “The Builders.” “We’re not going to solve it by trying to save our way there.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated Musk’s comments on Nov. 6. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
