Tesla to end Cybertruck production in mid-2027 as Gigafactory Texas shifts to Cybercab

The decision

Elon Musk announced on X that production of the Cybertruck will end at Gigafactory Texas in Austin around mid-2027. The plant will shift its focus to the Cybercab, the autonomous vehicle at the centre of Tesla's robotaxi ambitions. Tesla did not answer Wired's question about whether it would stop building the Cybertruck entirely, but the Austin site is currently the only facility with the specialist machinery needed to make the truck's stainless steel body. Musk said the line will keep building trucks for about eight months and that the company will try to make as many as possible before it stops.

Orders, deposits and the share price

Musk said Cybertruck orders are running well ahead of production, and Tesla will add an extra shift to fill as many as it can. He also acknowledged that the company will have to return deposits to many customers whose orders it cannot fill. He rejected the idea that the decision comes from a lack of profitability, arguing that the truck still makes money but that its production uses resources he values more highly for the Cybercab. Tesla shares rose 5.5% to $378.1 after the first hour of trading on Wall Street.

Sales well below the plan

When the Cybertruck went on sale, Musk had talked about 250,000 units a year, and deliveries began in November 2023. Cox Automotive estimates, relayed by EFE, put US sales at 38,965 vehicles in 2024, falling to 20,237 in 2025, a drop of 48.1%. Between January and September 2026 the estimate reached 11,586 registrations, 28% fewer than in the same period a year earlier. At the close of the third quarter Tesla still declared an installed capacity above 125,000 Cybertrucks a year, though, as El Periódico points out, capacity is not the same as output. By March 2025, fewer than 50,000 had been sold in total.

202438,965

202520,237

January-September 202611,586

2024

38965 vehicles

2025

20237 vehicles

January-September 2026

11586 vehicles

Data from the article text

Cybercab and the robotaxi plan

Tesla has already started using the Cybercab in its robotaxi service in Austin, but it still has to show it can expand that service safely and profitably. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation in September into the model's safety certification, a step that El Periódico notes is not in itself a violation. Dan Ives, a Wall Street analyst and senior director at Yorkville Ives & Co., told CBS News that the outcome was foreseeable given the high price and weak demand. The move fits a wider shift at Tesla toward artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous vehicles, away from its pricier, low-volume models.

A troubled history

Even before deliveries began, the Cybertruck faced 11 federal safety recalls, covering faulty accelerator pedal pads and the wrong glue, which could let panels fly off. The truck has not been sold in the EU, the UK, Australia or New Zealand, where Wired says it is effectively banned. Musk tried to get President Donald Trump to buy one, setting up an impromptu Tesla showroom on the White House South Lawn in 2025, but Trump opted for a Model S Plaid instead. Owners profiled by Wired last year described themselves as fervent fans who were periodically taunted as extremists. Tesla's earlier Solar Roof product also fell short, with Wood Mackenzie calculating an average of 21 systems a week in 2022 against a target of 1,000 a week by the end of 2019, and production stopped in August 2026.