Tesla Kills the Cybertruck to Make Way for Its Robotaxi Bet

Tesla Kills the Cybertruck to Make Way for Its Robotaxi Bet
In 2019, Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck as Tesla’s radical answer to a pickup market he said had barely changed in a century. The stainless-steel truck arrived late, with a higher price and less range than initially promised, but Tesla began deliveries in late 2023.

By 2024 and 2025, the vehicle’s striking design had found a loyal niche rather than the mass audience Musk once forecast. Kelley Blue Book estimates cited by reports put U.S. sales at 38,965 in 2024 and 20,237 in 2025 — a 48% fall. The truck also accumulated recalls over issues including a trapped accelerator pedal risk, software faults and inverter problems.

Then came the pivot. Musk said Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year — mid-2027 — “to make room for increased Cybercab production.” The factory space is being redirected to the two-seat robotaxi, a product central to Tesla’s effort to cast itself as an AI and robotics company rather than simply an automaker.

Musk rejects the interpretation that the pickup was commercially doomed. He says Cybertruck orders exceed what Tesla can build before the line is dismantled, adding that the company will add a shift but “will have to return deposits for a lot of people.” His argument is one of allocation: Cybercab production, not a lack of demand, has won the contest for scarce factory capacity.

That rationale has not settled the backlash. Reporting on the decision notes that some Tesla customers question why the company is narrowing its consumer lineup while pursuing a future in which riders summon autonomous vehicles instead of owning them. For Tesla, the Cybertruck becomes a technology platform whose ideas live on in Cybercab. For buyers still waiting — and for critics of the broader strategy — it looks more like an abrupt end to a troubled promise.

https://foxvector.com