Abstract:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently responded to the company’s decision to discontinue the Cybertruck, emphasizing that the controversial stainless steel electric pickup truck was not discontinued due to losses. He also stated that because the number of existing orders is still higher than the remaining production capacity, some users will eventually receive a refund on their deposits.
Musk said on social platform X that Tesla plans to stop Cybertruck production in about eight months. Before the suspension of production, the company will try to increase production and complete more order deliveries, but due to limited time and production capacity, "many users' deposits have to be returned."
In response to external doubts about the commercial failure of Cybertruck, Musk said that the model itself is not unprofitable. According to him, the main reason for the suspension of production is that the opportunity cost caused by the higher manufacturing complexity of Cybertruck has far exceeded the value that can be created by continuing to expand Cybercab production.
In other words, Tesla believes that transferring the factory space and manufacturing resources currently used for Cybertruck production to the Cybercab self-driving taxi project can bring higher economic returns. Musk has previously revealed that the company plans to use the freed production capacity to further expand the production scale of the two-seat Cybercab model.
Cybertruck will begin delivering to consumers in late 2023. In the early days of product release, it was regarded as one of Tesla's most breakthrough models. Musk said at the time that reservations for the car had reached about 1 million, and he expected annual sales to reach 250,000 in the future.
However, the huge booking figures did not translate into actual sales results. Although Tesla did not separately disclose the specific sales volume of Cybertruck, industry analysts estimate that the cumulative sales of this model since its delivery in November 2023 are approximately 71,000 units, which is significantly lower than early market expectations.
The report pointed out that part of Cybertruck sales also come from purchases from Musk's affiliated companies. Among them, SpaceX, of which Musk is the head and holds a significant stake, purchased Cybertruck worth US$131 million in 2025. In addition, before merging with SpaceX, artificial intelligence company xAI also purchased a $430 million Tesla Megapack energy storage system for data center construction.
Although Cybertruck sales have continued to be weak in the past few months, with the announcement of the discontinuation of production, market analysts believe that the model may usher in a round of additional demand due to increased scarcity. However, even if the collection and commemorative value brought about by the suspension of production stimulate some consumers to place orders, the scale of market demand is still expected to be difficult to reach the target level described by Tesla a few years ago.
As Cybertruck gradually withdraws from its product lineup, Tesla is investing more resources into the Cybercab self-driving taxi project. This also means that the company's future development focus will further shift from personalized electric pickup trucks to self-driving travel services and self-driving taxi businesses.
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