Tesla’s Cybertruck heads for an exit after years of hype and division
[November 07, 2026] By
MATT SEDENSKY
NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla’s Cybertruck, the hulking, stainless-steel pickup
that inspired devotion and derision with its science-fiction looks, will
cease production next year.
CEO Elon Musk announced the model’s demise Friday with a curt post on X,
his social media site, simply noting production of the vehicle “will be
winding down” around the middle of 2027 at its facility outside Austin,
Texas. Musk said the move was to allow increased production of its
Cybercab robotaxi.
For the Cybertruck, a pet project of Musk who insisted it was Tesla’s
best product, it marks an unceremonious end to one of the auto
industry’s most ballyhooed debuts.
“Few vehicles in history have generated as much attention,” said Armen
Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers autos. “The Cybertruck became a
cultural symbol – loved, mocked and impossible to ignore.”
The Cybertruck rolled onto the scene in a dramatic unveiling in 2019,
when a Tesla designer hurled a metal ball at the vehicle to demonstrate
its supposedly unbreakable glass, only to see it shatter. He repeated
the stunt on another window of the truck only to shatter that one, too.
Even as some critics scoffed, Musk was steadfast.
“I just wanted to make a futuristic battle tank — something that looks
like it could come out of ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Aliens’ or something like
that but was also highly functional,” he told Automotive News. He called
it “a better sports car than a Porsche 911” and “a better truck than an
F-150.”
It struck some as the perfect vehicular reflection of the brash,
convention-busting Musk.
“A really controversial vehicle unveiled by a controversial individual
into a market where none of the electric trucks have been able to really
capture demand,” said Spencer Penn, a former Tesla executive who left
the company before the Cybertruck’s launch and now heads procurement
software firm LightSource.
Penn remembered watching the unveiling and feeling initially revolted by
the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance “madness.” But the
more he looked at it, the more his opinion changed. He signed up for a
pre-sale reservation, though ended up not getting a Cybertruck when
Musk’s promises of a price tag under $40,000 went unmet and the first
trucks sold for double or more. Penn called the Cybertruck part of
Tesla’s adventurous spirit that drives innovation.
“Some of these bets work and some of these bets don’t,” he said.
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New Tesla Cybertrucks are seen at SpaceX's Starship facility in
Starbase, Texas, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
 While the decision to end Cybertruck
production may be driven by sales realities, it's also a reflection
of Tesla’s shift to autonomous vehicles, on which Musk is betting
the company’s future.
Musk once forecast he’d make 250,000 Cybertrucks a year. Kelley Blue
Book estimated Tesla sold just 20,237 of the vehicles last year,
down about half from the year prior. Sales through the end of
September this year were down another 28%, according to Kelley Blue
Book.
If the imposing, sharp-angled, dystopian appearance of the
Cybertruck weren’t enough to turn many potential buyers away, Musk
did so himself by allying with a panoply of right-wing figures, most
notably U.S. President Donald Trump. He alienated some customers as
his image morphed from eccentric innovator to polarizing force
trading his billions for political influence.
Once-passionate Tesla drivers rushed to sell off their cars, or
slapped stickers on the bumper declaring, “I bought this before Elon
went crazy.” Organizers staged demonstrations outside Tesla
showrooms and urged investors to dump shares of the company’s stock.
Anger spilled into violence, with Molotov cocktails hurled at Tesla
vehicles, charging stations set ablaze, and dealerships covered in
graffiti.
Lovers of the Cybertruck became targets, too, subjected to shouts of
“Nazi!” and extended middle fingers.
Ross Blankenship is one of them. When he first laid eyes on the
Cybertruck, he felt transported to a world from his childhood, when
he would play “Halo,” the sci-fi video game. He had to have it.
“I had that sort of child in me wanting to be part of something cool
that would change the future of automotive,” Blankenship said in a
call from his Cybertruck as he drove through Sunnyside, Colorado.
Even as Blankenship found he agreed with Musk on politics, he hated
seeing a vehicle he loved turned into a political symbol. “I never
bought it for any other reason than the fascination with the future
technology of trucks … so that was a little heartbreaking.”
He would buy another Cybertruck again in a heartbeat, calling its
end “a sad moment.”
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