Tesla Cybertruck to face early execution
Production of the Tesla Cybertruck is set to be wound down in 2027, less than four years on from when the controversial electric pickup launched.
The Tesla Cybertruck’s tumultuous gestation and production is set to come to an early end, after Elon Musk announced the electric pickup’s run will wind down next year.
“Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production,” Tesla CEO Musk said on social media platform X, which he has owned since 2022.
Tesla first previewed the Cybertruck in November 2019 as a concept, initially saying it would launch in late 2021, however that was pushed back multiple times until December 2023, when the first examples reached customers in the US.
Initially claiming production could ramp up to approximately 250,000 vehicles a year in 2025, the Cybertruck’s life got off to a rocky start, as quality concerns, excessive pricing and image problems related to Musk’s political stance meant sales were slow to take off.
Industry estimates place Tesla as delivering approximately 70,000 Cybertrucks since its launch, well down on the estimation that annual production could reach 250,000 vehicles.
It also represented a major miss for Tesla, which Musk had claimed held more than one million global pre-orders for the Cybertruck, all of which had a monetary deposit attached to them.
The demise of the Cybertruck is largely unsurprising, given even in its best year of 2024, it only just outsold the more contemporary Ford F-150 Lighting.
In 2024, Kelley Blue Book reports Tesla sold 38,965 Cybertrucks in the US, compared to Ford’s 33,510 F-150 Lightning deliveries.
Stephen Ottley
Ford pulled the plug on the F-150 Lightning EV late last year, and announced its second-generation successor will be a range-extended EV, which will see a petrol engine fitted to charge the onboard high voltage battery, rather than help drive the wheels.
This was preceded by Ram announcing the 1500 REV - its upcoming electric version of the popular 1500 pickup - had been cancelled, and would instead take shape as a range-extender, utilising the same name rather than its original Ramcharger moniker.
In April, US publication Crain’s Detroit Business - via related publication Automotive News - General Motors had indefinitely delayed the next-generation of its existing electric pickups, including those which were related to SUVs.
While the news of the Cybertruck’s impending demise has impacted those in North America, Australians were given bad news about it last month, after Tesla finally officially announced it wouldn’t be coming here.
After being previewed in concept form in late 2019, Tesla allowed Australian customers to place a $150 deposit for the Cybertruck, with mid-2022 figures suggesting approximately 15,000 locals had put money down for the EV.
Based on this conservative estimate – which was made almost 18 months before the production-ready model was revealed in November 2023 – Tesla had received approximately $2.25 million from its Australian customers alone through the deposit system.
Questions over whether the Cybertruck would ever be sold here started to emerge from its unveiling, as Tesla only detailed plans for left-hand drive production, leaving out right-hand drive markets such as Australia.
Jordan Mulach
The Cybertruck’s controversial design was long thought to be a potential hindrance towards the possibility of it being made for markets such as Australia, where stringent regulations limit the vehicles which can be sold here.
Tesla most recently said the Cybertruck was “under review” for Australia in early 2025, claiming the underpinnings would remain the same but with an altered body.
In announcing it wouldn’t come to Australia, Tesla refunded those who placed a $150 deposit, and offered them one year of complimentary Full Self-Driving (Supervised), provided they buy a new Model Y or Model 3.
