Chief executive Elon Musk said the company would add another production shift to fulfil outstanding Cybertruck orders before removing the line, potentially in June or July next year. His clarification followed an announcement that Tesla would wind down manufacturing at its Gigafactory Texas plant to accommodate greater Cybercab output.
The decision marks a substantial reversal for a vehicle that Musk once expected to sell at a rate of 250,000 annually. Tesla has not announced an alternative manufacturing location, and its Austin facility is the only known company plant equipped to produce the pickup’s specialised components.
US sales fell to 20,237 vehicles in 2025 from 38,965 in 2024, a decline of approximately 48%, according to estimates compiled by automotive research firm Kelley Blue Book. Deliveries began in late 2023, following a prolonged development programme and considerable publicity surrounding the vehicle’s stainless-steel body and angular styling.
Sales have remained under pressure this year. Kelley Blue Book estimates indicate that 11,586 Cybertrucks were sold during the first nine months of 2026, underscoring the gap between actual demand and the volumes envisaged when Tesla prepared its Texas manufacturing operations.
Musk described the Cybertruck as the best vehicle Tesla had made and called the decision the end of an era. His comments nevertheless offered no firm commitment to restart production elsewhere, leaving the future availability of new vehicles beyond the Texas wind-down uncertain.
Tesla’s planned additional shift suggests the company intends to complete existing orders rather than terminate assembly immediately. The manufacturer has not publicly detailed how long it will continue taking new orders, how remaining inventory will be handled or whether the production change will affect parts supply and servicing for existing owners.
The pickup has encountered repeated recalls and quality concerns, alongside pricing changes that complicated its positioning against conventional American trucks. Its unconventional design also limited opportunities in Europe, where pedestrian protection requirements present significant obstacles to approval.
Former Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer said continuing a model that failed to achieve its targets made little commercial sense. The disparity between forecast volumes and realised sales has heightened questions about the economics of maintaining dedicated manufacturing equipment for a comparatively low-volume vehicle.
The broader electric pickup segment has also proved difficult for manufacturers seeking to persuade established truck buyers to switch from petrol-powered models. Purchase prices, vehicle weight, charging considerations and demand for familiar working configurations have presented challenges across the category, although individual models have performed differently.
Tesla is redirecting attention towards the Cybercab, a two-seat vehicle designed for autonomous ride-hailing without conventional driving controls. Musk has identified robotaxis and artificial intelligence as increasingly important parts of the company’s strategy, alongside its established electric car business.
The company began offering paid rides using a small Cybercab fleet in Austin in September. The programme remains at an early stage, and commercial expansion depends partly on regulatory compliance and Tesla’s ability to operate autonomous vehicles safely at greater scale.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit in September examining the basis on which Tesla certified the Cybercab as compliant with federal motor vehicle safety standards. That scrutiny represents a separate challenge from the manufacturing expansion planned at the Texas factory.
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles figures indicate that roughly 570 of more than 1,200 Tesla robotaxis operating in the state are Cybercabs, with most remaining vehicles drawn from the Model Y range. Tesla has indicated installed Cybercab manufacturing capacity exceeding 125,000 units, although installed capacity does not establish actual production or customer demand.
Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill said the pickup had served as a technology development platform whose innovations would continue through the Cybercab. The two vehicles differ substantially in their intended uses, with one marketed as a consumer pickup and the other developed for driverless passenger transport.
The Cybertruck was unveiled in 2019 and entered customer service four years later. Its distinctive body construction required specialised manufacturing processes, making any transfer of production to another Tesla plant more complicated than relocating assembly of a conventional model. Tesla has not specified whether those production tools will be retained, repurposed or removed permanently after the transition.
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