It took a bit longer than we’d though it might, but Tesla CEO Elon musk says production of the Cybertruck electric pickup will stop mid 2027, less that four years since the first customer deliveries.
The polarizing stainless-clad pickup – which looked (to the Green Car Guy at least) like something out the segregation sci-fi flick District 9 , coincidentally set in Musk’s native South Africa – was supposed to be a huge hit – per Musk’s earliest pronouncements but is selling in woefully small numbers.
It’s 2019 debut was marred when a demonstration of the truck’s “bulletproof” window glass failed – twice -as metal balls hurled at the side windows shattered them. Musk pronounced at the time that it appeared some improvements were needed.
Unfortunately, there weren’t enough improvements.
There have been 11 federal recalls of the Cybertruck since customer deliveries started in December 2023. Not to mention the four years it took to actually get it into customer hands after its introduction.
There are Cybertruck fans, or course, many owners proclaiming it the best vehicle they’ve ever had. There are also a lot of people who eat mud.
Musk predicted annual sales of 250,000. Here’s the real totals per Kelly Blue Book: 38,965 in year one – 2024 – dropping to 20,235 in 2025 and to 11,568 in the first 11 months of 2026. That’s a total of 70,770 sales and a far cry from 250,000 a year.
Musk says killing the Cybertruck is part of Tesla’s pivot. He needs room at the Texas gigafactory where the truck it built to boost production of the self-driving Cybercabs that signal Tesla’s shift away from cars that people can drive themselves.
Think of Tesla as a robotics and autonomous vehicles company now, he’s said.
We’re fine with that, as long as the vehicles don’t look anything like the Cybertruck.
