Tesla will stop building the Cybertruck at its Gigafactory in Texas around the middle of 2027, CEO Elon Musk has announced. In a post on X on Friday, Musk said the company would be “winding down production” of the stainless-steel pickup to make room for more Cybercab robotaxis. Musk did not say whether the truck would be built elsewhere. Texas is the only plant that makes it, and its steel body needs specialised tooling, so shifting production would not come cheap. Wes Morrill, the project’s lead engineer, hinted at a full stop, writing on X that the Cybertruck “lives on through Cybercab.”When a fan called it the best vehicle Tesla has ever made, Musk replied, “True, but the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time.” He has made that claim himself, calling it Tesla’s best product ever on a 2019 earnings call and again in April this year. Tesla shares rose over 4% on Friday.
Cybertruck sales fell far short of Musk’s 250,000-a-year target
Musk once expected the Cybertruck to sell 250,000 units a year, and by late 2023 he claimed more than a million reservations. Very few of those turned into sales. Cox Automotive estimates Tesla sold 20,237 in the US in 2025, down 48% from 38,965 in 2024. In October 2026, just 1,914 were registered in the US, according to Motor Intelligence. Ford sold over 70,000 F-Series trucks that month.Tesla does not report Cybertruck numbers separately, but its “other models” category, which includes the truck, managed only 8,300 deliveries in the third quarter. One of the biggest buyers last year was Musk’s own SpaceX, which spent $131 million on Cybertrucks at full retail price, as per a company filing.The trouble started early. At the 2019 unveiling, Tesla’s design chief threw a metal ball at the truck’s supposedly armoured window, and it cracked on stage. Deliveries began only in late 2023, after years of delays. The truck was first promised at $39,900, but the base model arrived at about $61,000, and the top Cyberbeast trim now costs $102,000. Even before deliveries began, Musk admitted on a 2023 earnings call, “We dug our own grave with Cybertruck.“Recalls followed. The 2024 model alone faced 11 voluntary recalls in the US, including one over an accelerator pedal that could get stuck. Another in 2025 covered more than 46,000 trucks over a trim panel that could fall off. The Cybertruck never went on sale in Europe either, as it failed to meet safety standards there.
Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory shifts to Cybercab and Optimus robot production
The Texas factory will now focus on the Cybercab, a two-seater with no steering wheel that already offers paid rides in parts of Austin. It will also build Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot.The exit leaves Tesla with its smallest lineup in over a decade, after the Model S and Model X were dropped earlier this year. The Model 3 and Model Y now carry its car business, accounting for 478,000 deliveries in the third quarter.The news capped a rough week for Musk, after Republican candidates he backed with around $446 million lost in the US midterms.
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