Tesla to Halt Cybertruck Production as It Ramps Up Cybercab Output

Tesla will dismantle the production line for its Cybertruck electric pickup at its Austin, Texas, factory around the middle of next year. The move suggests Elon Musk’s strategy to reshape the company around robotaxis, humanoid robots and artificial intelligence is moving into full swing.

Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on November 6 that Tesla would gradually wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas Gigafactory starting in the middle of next year. He added the next day that the company plans to remove the production line around June or July next year and add shifts to work through its order backlog. Musk called the Cybertruck the best vehicle Tesla has ever made and said the decision marked “the end of an era.”

Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 and launched it in 2023. At the time, Musk expected it to compete with pickup trucks from General Motors and Ford, which have long been popular in the US, and projected annual sales of 500,000 vehicles. But demand lagged as high prices and a string of recalls weighed on sales. In South Korea, where sales began in September last year at 145 million won, or about $104,000, 818 vehicles had been registered cumulatively through September this year.

According to Kelley Blue Book, Cybertruck sales in the US fell 48.1% to 20,237 last year from 38,965 in 2024. In the first nine months of this year, sales totaled 11,586, down 28% from the same period a year earlier.

Tesla plans to use the space previously dedicated to Cybertruck production to build a two-seat robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. The company began paid Cybercab service in parts of Austin, Texas, in September. The change is part of Tesla’s broader plan to move beyond electric-vehicle sales and focus on robotaxis with autonomous-driving capabilities and humanoid robots. The Financial Times said future production volumes and customer deliveries of autonomous taxis will be a gauge of how successful Tesla’s business shift proves to be.

Kim Dong-hyun, Hankyung.com reporter 3code@hankyung.com