Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said Monday that Tesla will shut down Cybertruck production in about eight months and refund deposits to many buyers who will not receive the pickup.1,3,4
Musk said the order rate for the stainless-steel pickup far exceeds what Tesla can build before the line closes, and he defended the decision to end production as a choice to free factory space and engineering for the two-seater Cybercab robotaxi. The move shifts resources away from a pickup that fell short of its early sales projections toward a vehicle described as central to the automaker's autonomous-driving ambitions.1,3,4
The first Cybertrucks were delivered to customers in late 2023, with first deliveries beginning in November 2023. At the time, Musk said reservations had reached 1 million and predicted the company would sell around 250,000 of the trucks annually. Tesla does not break out Cybertruck sales, but industry experts estimate about 71,000 have been sold since deliveries began.1
In the United States, Tesla sold just 20,000 Cybertrucks last year and has sold around 16,000 so far in 2026. It is unclear how many Cybertruck orders Tesla has outstanding, and the company still appears to be accepting orders on its website.4
Many of the Cybertrucks sold went to businesses connected to Musk. SpaceX, now known as SpaceXSI, which he also leads and is the largest shareholder of, purchased $131 million worth of Cybertrucks from Tesla in 2025, according to the company's S-1 registration statement ahead of its IPO. Another Musk company, xAI, also bought $430 million worth of Tesla Megapacks for its data centers before it merged with SpaceX.1
Musk said the decision was not because the truck lost money. "This is not a case of Cybertruck being unprofitable, as has been misreported," he wrote. He added, "The opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production," and said scaling the Cybercab was more of a priority.1,4
In a separate post on Saturday, Musk told supporters who had spent the weekend asking him on X to keep the vehicle that Tesla's engineers can "only do so many things" and that the Cybercab was more important to the company's future. "If we have to maintain a complex production line, supply chain and allocate engineering for Cybertruck, we can't use those people or factory space and machinery for scaling Cybercab, which is the vehicle that will PROFOUNDLY transform the world of terrestrial transport!" Musk wrote.4
Musk said Tesla will try to complete as many remaining trucks as it can. "We will try to make as many as possible before shutting down the line in about 8 months, but will have to return deposits for a lot of people," he said Monday. He has also said the company will add an extra production shift to fulfill outstanding orders before dismantling the production line next year.1,3,4
Musk announced on Friday that production "will be winding down" around mid-2027 at Tesla's facility outside Austin, Texas. Musk said last week that Tesla plans to use the factory space to build more Cybercabs.1,3,4
The Cybercab is one of Musk's key bets in his push to turn Tesla into an artificial intelligence and robotics company rather than only an automaker, according to one summary. The Cybercab robotaxi is described as central to the automaker's autonomous-driving ambitions. The Cybertruck decision follows an earlier move this year to discontinue the Model S and X premium electric vehicles to free up factory space for its Optimus humanoid robot.3,4,5
Sales of the Cybertruck, which lagged for months, could see a final increase now that production is ending, though even such an increase is unlikely to reach the projections from several years ago. For owners, one summary said key questions remain.1,2
