The Tesla Cybertruck Fails in the Market and Elon Musk Decides When It Will End Production
Launched in late 2023, it has fallen far short of market expectations, in addition to accumulating more than a dozen recalls due to both software and mechanical issues.
Elon Musk has officially confirmed that Tesla will dismantle and halt the production of the Cybertruck at its Texas gigafactory. After years of languishing sales that are far from the excessive initial ambitions, the American firm throws in the towel with its stainless steel behemoth to reallocate its production capacity towards the Cybercab, the autonomous vehicle without steering wheel or pedals on which Musk is now articulating the technological future of the company.
At the time of its launch in late 2023, the Tesla capsule projected a sales volume of around 250,000 units per year through its different versions from the entry level to the top-of-the-line powered by three electric motors. Like many other cases in the history of the American manufacturer, reality has been very different from the projected narrative.
Elon Musk Confirms the End of His Tesla Cybertruck
In its first full commercial year, 2024, it achieved 38,965 deliveries, far from the target set, according to Kelly Blue Book data. In the past 2025 it was even worse, with just 20,237 units, not reaching a tenth of what was announced to the four winds four years earlier for that gigantic pick-up impossible to homologate in Europe, with that unusual stainless steel body reminiscent of one of Musk's great obsessions: the DeLorean DMC-12, which became an icon thanks to Back to the Future.
Many remember that Cybertruck presentation, where the supposedly armored windows ended up shattered live. It hasn't been the only problem for the controversial vehicle, as the relevant traffic safety authority in the United States, the NHTSA, has issued up to 11 separate recalls either for mechanical/reliability issues, which required physical repairs (in addition to software failures, resolved through OTA updates).
An Impossible Model for European Standards
Despite these figures, through his space on his X network Musk claims that his creation is "the best vehicle Tesla has ever made" (even considering the Model 3 and Model Y that lead electric car sales in Spain and many European countries) and labeled the cessation of production as "the end of an era." A vehicle with rigid steel corners "could neither could operate" under European homologation standards, as experts remind us.
In essence, in any regulatory framework where pedestrian safety has been taken into account, as Euro NCAP has done for decades, a vehicle like the Cybercab could never circulate like other cars. No matter how futuristic it may seem, without complying with current regulations, it would be limited - and, in the United States, it had another problem.
Electric Pick-Ups Have Not Worked in the US Overall
A downside for the Cybertruck is the simple fact that it has focused on the United States, where electric pick-ups never took off (nor really did electric cars except in certain states). Proof of this is the Ford F-150 Lightning which, despite selling more than its direct rivals, ended up being canceled at the end of the past 2025. "They all lost because BEV pick-ups are not popular in the US," remarked Felipe Muñoz from Car Industry Analysis.
The Cybertruck will remain in production at the Texas plant until mid-2027, continuing the same path as the long-lived Model S and Model X that made way at the end of last March for the humanoid robots Optimus. In the case of the Cybertruck, it will be in favor of the production of the Cybercab that began to roll out months earlier starting in Austin.
The Cybercab is at the Center of Another Issue with NHTSA
The Cybercab is also not without problems. NHTSA is investigating the robotaxi of which 570 units are already circulating in Texas. However, Tesla has not yet provided the answer that the government department has demanded, except for sending safety information in case of fires - information that is indeed useful for firefighters and emergency services but does not provide regulatory answers, in addition to being literally copied from its website.
In the other required documents, Tesla has kept the information confidential, but authorities want answers about how they have certified the vehicle without having a brake pedal operated by foot, a steering wheel, or rearview mirrors. The manufacturer wants to keep that information away from the public, but NHTSA has the authority to order a public version - although technically the Cybercab has not violated any standard in North American regulations.
* This news is an AI translation of the original content. Motenic.com is part of Motor.es.
Fuente: Reuters