Tesla will wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas factory next year, Elon Musk has said.
Musk did not spell out whether the company intends to stop making the pickup altogether or shift production elsewhere, but said the decision was designed to "make room" for building more of Tesla's self-driving Cybercab cars.
The project's lead engineer, Wes Morrill, appeared to suggest the vehicle is being discontinued. "Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab," he wrote on X.
The news prompted an outpouring of grief from Tesla fans online, with one describing the Cybertruck as "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made" while lamenting that it was being "discontinued next year". Musk responded to the post with the word "true", adding: "But the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time."
The pickup was always a passion project for Musk. He called it "way more awesome than people realise" in March and described it as the "best product Tesla has ever made to date" in April. Yet big questions have long hung over whether consumers shared that view, and whether the Cybertruck could earn a spot in the lucrative US truck market.
The vehicle had an inauspicious public debut in 2019, when Musk attempted to show off its apparently unbreakable glass, only for it to shatter during a live demonstration. Despite the gaffe, Musk said that year that the truck had received 146,000 orders while still in development.
When it finally launched in 2023 after being beset by delays, the Cybertruck kept its novel design: an angular shape with a body made of stainless steel. Admirers praised a retro-futuristic look that some said seemed "straight out of Blade Runner", while critics were far less kind, joking about its appearance and labelling it "ugly as sin".
Sales since launch have been disappointing, and the truck has been hit by several recalls, including one in 2025 affecting more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over concerns that part of its trim could fall off.
Then there is the price. "We need to make it at a price that people can afford," Musk told Wall Street analysts in 2023. The vehicle ended up costing $61,000, then about £48,000, with all the "bells and whistles", and in 2026 the so-called Cyberbeast model comes in at $102,000.
