The Cybertruck will cease production next year, with the wind-down slated for mid-2027 at Tesla's facility outside Austin, Texas.
asserted
down → cease → Austin
Elon Musk announced the model's demise on Friday in a curt post on X, his social media site, noting that production of the vehicle “will be winding down” around mid-2027.
asserted
production → announce → mid-2027
Musk said the move was to allow increased production of the Cybercab robotaxi, a vehicle central to the automaker's autonomous-driving ambitions.
asserted
move → say → ambitions
The Tesla CEO has also said the company will add an extra production shift to fulfill outstanding Cybertruck orders before dismantling the production line next year.
asserted
company → say → line
Musk said many customers who put down deposits for the pickup will have to be refunded, as orders far exceed production capacity.
asserted
orders → say → capacity
"We will try to make as many as possible before shutting down the line in about 8 months, but will have to return deposits for a lot of people," the billionaire said in a post on X on Monday.
asserted
billionaire → try → Monday
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.
asserted
it → insist → debuts
“Few vehicles in history have generated as much attention,” said Armen Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers autos.
asserted
site → generate → autos
“The Cybertruck became a cultural symbol – loved, mocked and impossible to ignore.
asserted
Cybertruck → become → ?
The truck 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.
asserted
it → roll → glass
He repeated the stunt on another window of the truck, shattering that one, too.
asserted
He → repeat → one
Even as some critics scoffed, Musk was steadfast.
asserted
Musk → scoff → ?
“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.
uncertain
he → want → News
He called it “a better sports car than a Porsche 911” and “a better truck than an F-150.”
asserted
He → call → F-150
It struck some as the perfect vehicular reflection of the brash, convention-busting Musk.
asserted
It → strike → 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 software developer LightSource.
asserted
who → unveil → LightSource
Penn remembered watching the unveiling and feeling initially revolted by the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance “madness.”
asserted
Penn → remember → appearance
But the more he looked at it, the more his opinion changed.
asserted
opinion → look → it
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.
asserted
trucks → sign → more
Penn called the Cybertruck part of Tesla's adventurous spirit that drives innovation.
asserted
that → call → innovation
“Some of these bets work and some of these bets don’t,” he said.
asserted
he → work → bets
Tesla began delivering the Cybertruck in late 2023, but demand has fallen far short of Musk's expectations.
asserted
demand → begin → expectations
Musk once forecast he'd make 250,000 Cybertrucks a year.
asserted
he → forecast → Cybertrucks
U.S. sales fell 48% to 20,237 units last year, according to Kelley Blue Book, well below Musk's earlier projection that annual Cybertruck sales could reach 250,000 vehicles.
uncertain
sales → fall → vehicles
Sales through the end of September this year were down another 28%, according to Kelley Blue Book.
uncertain
Sales → accord → Book
While the decision to end Cybertruck production may be driven by sales realities, it also reflects Tesla's shift to autonomous vehicles, on which Musk is betting the company's future.
uncertain
Musk → end → future
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 President Donald Trump.
asserted
Musk → turn → Trump
He alienated some customers as his image morphed from eccentric innovator to polarizing force, trading his billions for political influence.
asserted
image → alienate → 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.”
asserted
Elon → rush → this
Organizers staged demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms and urged investors to dump shares of the company's stock.
asserted
Organizers → stag → stock
Anger spilled into violence, with Molotov cocktails hurled at Tesla vehicles, charging stations set ablaze, and dealerships covered in graffiti.
asserted
stations → spill → graffiti
Lovers of the Cybertruck became targets, too, subjected to shouts of “Nazi!” and extended middle fingers.
asserted
Lovers → become → Nazi
When he first laid eyes on the Cybertruck, he felt transported back to his childhood, when he played “Halo,” the sci-fi video game.
asserted
he → lay → Halo
He had to have it.
asserted
He → 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.
asserted
he → have → Sunnyside
Even though Blankenship agreed with Musk on politics, he hated seeing a vehicle he loved turned into a political symbol.
asserted
he → agree → symbol
“I never bought it for any other reason than the fascination with the future technology of trucks … so that was a little heartbreaking.”
asserted
that → buy → trucks
He would buy another Cybertruck again in a heartbeat, calling its end “a sad moment.”
asserted
He → buy → end
The stainless-steel pickup, which inspired devotion and derision with its science-fiction looks, will stop rolling off the line in Texas next year.
asserted
which → inspire → Texas
The Aporia
