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Tesla to Wind Down Cybertruck Production by Mid-2027

Updated 5:04 PM ET · 9:45 AM ETConfirmedShare via:          

Technology Desk

In Short: Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company will wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas factory by mid-2027, shifting focus to autonomous vehicles.

Tesla to wind down production of Cybertruck. NBC News

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X that the company will wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas factory by mid-2027, shifting focus to autonomous vehicles. The decision was made to create room for increased production of the Cybercab, an autonomous vehicle central to Tesla's robotaxi ambitions.

Unveiled in 2019 and launched commercially in 2023, the Cybertruck was initially promoted by Musk as a futuristic competitor to established pickup models from manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors. However, the vehicle's production has faced multiple delays and quality issues.

Tesla began offering paid rides to members of the public using a limited fleet of Cybercabs in Austin in September, following years of delays to its self-driving program. Musk described the Cybertruck as the best vehicle Tesla had produced and referred to the production wind-down as 'the end of an era'.

In a post on X, Tesla's Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said the company was raising its capital expenditure guidance to approximately $20 billion for 2026. This increase is partly due to the shift in focus towards autonomous vehicles.

Tesla's Austin factory remains the only known manufacturing site equipped to produce the specialized components required for the electric pickup. The company plans to add an extra shift to try to clear the order backlog before dismantling the line in 2027 to make room for the Cybercab robotaxi.

At Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in May 2023, Musk estimated that the company could eventually sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks annually once production reached full capacity. However, the vehicle's sales have fallen short of expectations, with US sales dropping 28% in the first nine months of 2026 after declining sharply in 2025.

Tesla's latest filing shows production of 7,004 vehicles in its 'other models' category during the third quarter of 2026, compared with 11,624 a year earlier. This decline underscores the company's decision to wind down Cybertruck production.

Musk had said the company aimed to sell 200,000 Cybertrucks each year but it never approached that target. The vehicle's high sticker price and limited availability have contributed to its struggle to gain widespread market acceptance.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk announced the decision in a post on X on Friday, saying the move would create room for increased production of the company’s Cybercab, a driverless vehicle central to its robotaxi ambitions.
• In a post on X, Morrill said the Cybertruck had been an “incredible technology development platform” and would live on through the company’s autonomous vehicle programme.
• The announcement has raised questions about the future of the Cybertruck, although Musk did not clarify whether production would be transferred to another facility or discontinued entirely.
• Tesla began offering paid rides to members of the public using a limited fleet of Cybercabs in Austin in September, following years of delays to its self-driving programme.
• CEO Elon Musk announced the model’s demise Friday with a curt post on X, his social media site, simply noting production of the vehicle “will be winding down” around the middle of 2027 at its facility outside Austin, Texas.
• Tesla began delivering the electric pickup to customers in late 2023 following multiple production delays.
• After years of delays, quality problems, recalls, and sales that fell far short of Elon Musk’s predictions, Tesla is preparing to wind down the manufacturing of its douchiest of all vehicles, the Cybertruck.
• Elon Musk said Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of 2027, so the plant can build more Cybercabs.
• Tesla will wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas factory around mid-2027, chief executive Elon Musk announced recently.

What's still developing

• Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
• As with so many other Tesla lineup announcements, the decision was announced in a tweet shared overnight.
• However, Tesla has not ruled out every possible option for the vehicle.
• According to data compiled by the crowdsourced Robotaxi Tracker, Tesla now has nearly 200 vehicles operating without a safety monitor across Austin, Dallas and Houston, yielding a roughly 7X increase in about three weeks.
• According to reporting published Thursday by The Information, factory workers at Tesla's facilities in Fremont, California and Austin, Texas refused to wear motion-capture suits that recorded their physical movements for use as training data for the Optimus robot — because, as the publication reported, workers "knew the robots were designed to eventually replace them."
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk said demand for the company's electric vehicles is significantly outpacing production, pointing to growing interest in Full Self-Driving technology as the automaker prepares to expand its Cybercab service to Dallas next month.
• In short, like many Tesla events these days, this one was lacking in some key updates.
• He said both companies formed “special committees” of independent directors to discuss the issue, though he played down the chances of an imminent deal.
• The leak was first surfaced by Tesla enthusiast @WholeMars, who discovered the renders tucked into a recent Tesla Android app update.

Sources

• Ariselink
• Ascendantslink
• Bostonheraldlink
• CBS Newslink
• Dailyflylink
• Electric Vehicleslink
• Fox Businesslink
• Fox Newslink
• Insideevslink
• Profitlink
• Sfistlink
• Tech-Insiderlink
• Technology Orglink
• Thedailystarlink
• Thesupercarbloglink
• Wbaplink
• NBC News — video link
• NBC News — video link
• NBC New York — video link
• CBS Evening News — video link
• CBS Chicago — video link
• CNN — video link