Tesla to wind down Cybertruck production in Texas to make room for Cybercab

Tesla will wind down production of its Cybertruck vehicles at its Texas factory next year, the company's chief Elon Musk has said.

Musk did not spell out whether production will stop entirely or shift elsewhere, but he said the decision was to make room for building more of the self-driving Cybercab cars.

Comments by the project's lead engineer, Wes Morrill, appeared to suggest the vehicle was being discontinued. Writing on X, he said: "Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab."

With its distinctive angular looks, the Cybertruck attracted diehard fans, but it was beset by delays before being launched in 2023 and has had disappointing sales numbers since.

Tesla fans have been mourning the news online, with one person calling it "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made" as he lamented it being "discontinued next year". Musk responded to the user with the word "true", adding: "But the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time."

Tesla's stock rose 4.7% on Friday after the announcement.

The vehicle has always been a passion project for Musk. He said in March that it was "way more awesome than people realise", and in April he called it the "best product Tesla has ever made to date".

But there have always been big questions about whether consumers shared that view and whether the Cybertruck could cut through and earn a spot in the US's lucrative truck market.

Its introduction to the public in 2019 was also inauspicious, when Musk attempted to show off the Cybertruck's apparently unbreakable glass, only for it to shatter during a live demonstration.

Despite the gaffe, the Cybertruck ended up receiving 146,000 orders, Musk said in 2019, while it was still in development. The vehicle eventually launched in 2023, keeping its novel design - an angular shape with a body made of stainless steel.

In 2025, Tesla sold just 20,237 Cybertrucks, a decline from 38,965 a year earlier, according to figures from Kelley Blue Book. Musk had predicted annual sales of 250,000 after commercial production of the Cybertruck began in 2023.

Tesla fans praised its retro-futuristic look, which some said looked like something "straight out of Blade Runner". But critics were far less kind, joking about its appearance and labelling it "ugly as sin".

Several recalls would not have helped either, including one in 2025 affecting more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over concerns that part of its trim could fall off.

"We need to make it at a price that people can afford," Musk told Wall Street analysts that year - which ended up being $61,000 (then £48,000) for all the "bells and whistles". In 2026, the so-called "Cyberbeast" model comes in at $102,000.