Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk announced that the electric vehicle maker will wind down production of its polarizing Cybertruck at its Texas manufacturing facility. The decision comes in response to poor sales figures since the vehicle’s market launch.
Shifting Focus to the Cybercab
Musk shared the news in a social media post on Friday, explaining that halting the Cybertruck will allow the company to ramp up manufacturing for the new Cybercab model as part of a push into the robo-taxi industry. The wind-down at Gigafactory Texas is scheduled to take place around the middle of next year.
Unveiled in 2019, the Cybertruck featured an angular stainless steel exterior that generated immediate division among the public. During its initial launch event, Musk attempted to demonstrate that the vehicle windows were shatterproof, but metal balls thrown at the truck cracked two of the windows.
Political Backlash and Slipping Sales
The vehicle eventually transformed into a target for public opposition against Musk as his involvement in United States politics deepened. His activities included a brief stint leading the Department of Government Efficiency panel under US President Donald Trump.
Musk subsequently poured nearly half a billion dollars into the US midterm election campaign to back Republican candidates. This spending featured more than $200 million supporting the unsuccessful Senate campaign of Republican Ken Paxton in Texas, where Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX is also headquartered. The financial backing failed to halt a Democratic victory that secured control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate, a political shift that could trigger federal investigations into Musk’s government work.
Consumer adoption fell well short of Musk’s early projection of 250,000 annual sales after the vehicle became available at the end of 2023. Tesla sold approximately 38,965 units in 2024, followed by 20,237 units in 2025—a drop of nearly fifty percent.
Musk did not indicate whether manufacturing would move to a different location, leaving the Texas facility as the sole known production site for the vehicle. Responding to a user on the platform, Musk praised the vehicle as the best one Tesla ever produced and described the decision as the end of an era.
