Tesla Cybertruck production end, Digi Mart USA News (Austin, Texas): Tesla’s Cybertruck, the stainless-steel pickup that drew both devotion and derision for its science-fiction styling, will cease production next year. Elon Musk announced the decision Friday in a brief post on X, his social media platform, saying production of the vehicle “will be winding down” around the middle of 2027 at its facility outside Austin, Texas.
Musk said the move would allow increased production of the Cybercab robotaxi. For the Cybertruck, a pet project Musk insisted was Tesla’s best product, the announcement marks an unceremonious end to one of the auto industry’s most heavily publicized debuts.
Armen Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers autos, said, “Few vehicles in history have generated as much attention. The Cybertruck became a cultural symbol – loved, mocked and impossible to ignore.”
The Cybertruck made its dramatic debut in 2019, when a Tesla designer hurled a metal ball at the vehicle to demonstrate its supposedly unbreakable glass, only to see it shatter. He repeated the stunt on another window, which also shattered.
Even as some critics scoffed, Musk remained steadfast. “I just wanted to make a futuristic battle tank — something that looks like it could come out of Blade Runner or Aliens or something like that but was also highly functional,” he told Automotive News.
He called it “a better sports car than a Porsche 911” and “a better truck than an F-150.”
Some saw the vehicle as a fitting reflection of Musk’s brash, convention-busting persona. “A really controversial vehicle unveiled by a controversial individual into a market where none of the electric trucks have been able to really capture demand,” said Spencer Penn, a former Tesla executive who left before the Cybertruck’s launch and now heads software developer LightSource.
Penn recalled initially feeling revolted by the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance “madness.” The more he looked at it, however, the more his opinion changed. He signed up for a pre-sale reservation but never received a Cybertruck, because Musk’s promised price below $US40,000 went unmet and the first trucks sold for double or more.
Penn described the Cybertruck as part of Tesla’s adventurous spirit that drives innovation. “Some of these bets work and some of these bets don’t,” he said.
The decision may be driven by sales realities, but it also reflects Tesla’s shift toward autonomous vehicles, a bet Musk is making on the company’s future. Musk once forecast he would produce 250,000 Cybertrucks a year.
Kelley Blue Book estimated Tesla sold just 20,237 of the vehicles last year, roughly half the prior year’s total. Sales through the end of September this year were down another 28 percent, according to Kelley.
Musk’s alignment with a range of right-wing figures, most notably U.S. President Donald Trump, also alienated some potential buyers.
His image shifted from eccentric innovator to polarizing force trading his wealth for political influence. Some Tesla drivers sold their cars or placed stickers on their bumpers reading “I bought this before Elon went crazy.”
Demonstrations were staged outside Tesla showrooms, and some investors were urged to sell company stock. The anger spilled into violence, with Molotov cocktails hurled at Tesla vehicles, charging stations set ablaze and dealerships covered in graffiti.
Cybertruck owners also became targets, subjected to shouts of “Nazi!” and extended middle fingers. Ross Blankenship is one of them.
When he first saw the Cybertruck, he felt transported back to his childhood, when he played the sci-fi video game Halo, and he had to have one. “I had that sort of child in me wanting to be part of something cool that would change the future of automotive,” Blankenship said in a call from his Cybertruck as he drove through Sunnyside, Colorado.
Although Blankenship agrees with Musk on politics, he hated seeing a vehicle he loved become a political symbol. “I never bought it for any other reason than the fascination with the future technology of trucks … so that was a little heartbreaking.” He said he would buy another Cybertruck in a heartbeat, calling its end “a sad moment.”
