Tesla appears to be preparing to discontinue production of its controversial Cybertruck, following an announcement by its chief executive, Elon Musk.
Musk disclosed on Friday that the electric vehicle manufacturer would gradually stop making the truck at its Austin, Texas, factory, which currently serves as its only Cybertruck production facility.
According to Musk, the adjustment will begin “around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production,” he announced on X.
However, it remains uncertain whether Tesla intends to relocate Cybertruck manufacturing to another facility or discontinue the model altogether. The vehicle’s chief engineer, Wes Morrill, appeared to suggest that production had reached its final chapter.
“Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab,” Morrill posted on X.
The announcement follows a difficult week for Musk, who has repeatedly identified the Cybertruck as his favourite vehicle. On Tuesday, his nearly $500 million investment in campaign contributions during the United States midterm elections failed to deliver the expected political gains, as Republican candidates suffered significant defeats.
The political setback was followed by a decline in artificial intelligence stocks, which also affected shares of Musk’s companies, Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX). Both reportedly lost more than 12 per cent of their market value during the first two trading days after the elections.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the decline wiped approximately $113 billion off Musk’s net worth, although he remained the world’s richest individual. The two-day loss was almost equivalent to the entire $123 billion fortune of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
While the Cybertruck attracted admirers among Tesla enthusiasts and Musk’s supporters because of its unconventional appearance, critics online were less impressed, dismissing its design as “dumpster chic”. The vehicle also struggled to meet commercial expectations.
During Tesla’s 2023 shareholder meeting, Musk projected that the company could eventually manufacture 500,000 Cybertrucks annually, describing the figure as his “reasonable guess”.
Although Tesla has not published separate sales figures for the Cybertruck, its reported sales category for “other models” remained below 37,000 units this year. The category covers vehicles outside the company’s best-selling Model 3 and Model Y, including the discontinued Model S and Model X.
