Tesla will wind down production of the Cybertruck at its Texas gigafactory around the middle of next year, chief executive Elon Musk said on Friday, freeing up factory space for the Cybercab robotaxi. The announcement, made in a post on X, marks a sharp turn for the stainless steel pickup that Musk once presented as the future of the American truck. Production of the Cybertruck will taper off at Gigafactory Texas as Tesla shifts the plant toward higher volumes of its purpose built driverless taxi.
What Musk announced
Musk wrote: “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.” That points to around mid-2027. Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill shared the post shortly afterwards. Production of the Cybercab had already begun at Gigafactory Texas, according to Tesla’s second quarter 2026 update, so the plant is already set up for both vehicles and the wind down is about shifting capacity, not starting from scratch.
A pickup that never found its footing
The Cybertruck launched in 2023, touted by Musk as a futuristic rival to pickups from legacy automakers such as Ford. It has struggled to sustain interest since launch, faced multiple recalls and quality control issues, and Tesla has repeatedly revised its prices. Sales estimates from Cox Automotive, based on Kelley Blue Book data, put US Cybertruck sales at 11,586 in the first three quarters of 2026, down 28 percent on the year before. Third quarter sales were 4,323, down from 5,385 a year earlier. Gigafactory Texas is the only factory that builds the Cybertruck. About two weeks earlier, Tesla told reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that plans to build the truck for those markets had been dropped.
The Tesla Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. Photo: Steve Jurvetson, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
Cybercab takes centre stage
The Cybercab is a two seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. Musk has made it central to Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions, and the company intends it to become the main driverless vehicle in its robotaxi network over time. Shifting Gigafactory Texas toward Cybercab production fits that plan: the factory floor that once built a niche pickup will instead build the vehicle Tesla wants at the heart of its driverless fleet.
What Musk did not say
He did not say whether Cybertruck production will move to another factory or stop altogether, and he gave no volumes, no hard stop date and no word on what happens to existing orders. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. For owners, questions about warranty, parts and software support after mid-2027 remain open, and for buyers the clock is now clearer: under Musk’s wording, new Cybertrucks will keep coming from Texas roughly through the first half of 2027.
Source: Reuters (link)