Elon Musk's controversial Tesla Cybertruck appears to be dead - The Independent

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Tesla’s Cybertruck, perhaps Elon Musk’s most controversial product, appears to be dead.

Mr Musk said that Tesla will be “winding down production” of the vehicle, after sustained criticism, recalls and poor sales.

Wes Morrill, the Cybertruck’s lead engineer, responded to the online post and spoke of the vehicle in the past tense.

The Cybertruck was first unveiled in 2019, after a design process that Mr Musk took a particularly keen interest in. It faced troubles from the very beginning, with the Tesla chief executive aiming to show off the shatterproof windows by throwing heavy metal balls at them – which left behind large cracks.

Tesla presented the vehicle as a transformative redesign of the pickup truck, with Mr Musk saying during the official launch in 2023: "Finally, the future will look like the future".

That extended to its design, which fans likened to a car from films such as Blade Runner.

But that same design led to a host of problems. Critics argued that its sharp edges were dangerous to other road users, which meant that it failed to gain safety approval in many markets, and it was then hit by a number of recalls.

Sales also struggled, despite Mr Musk’s predictions before its 2023 launch that tit would sell 250,000 units each year. According to Kelley Blue Book, the company only sold 20,237 Cybertrucks in the ​US in 2025, down 48 per cent from 38,965 in 2024.

Mr Musk said in an X post that winding down production at its Texas gigafactory would allow it to accommodate increased output of its newly launched Cybercab model, which the billionaire has made central to Tesla's robotaxi ambitions.

While it was not immediately clear whether Cybertruck production would be moved to another facility or phased out entirely, the automaker's ⁠Austin plant is the only known Tesla facility equipped to manufacture the model's ​specialized components.

In ⁠response to a user on X, Mr Musk called the Cybertruck the "best vehicle Tesla has ever made" and the wind-down the "end of an era".

The US EV maker ⁠only began delivering the Cybertruck to customers in late 2023.

"It doesn't make sense to keep it going when it's not meeting its targets," said former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. "Every rational auto guy would say the same."

"It will no doubt only be a rounding ‌error on Tesla's balance sheet, but the statistics speak for themselves."

Automotive analyst Automotive analyst Felipe Munoz said that although the Cybertruck has been called a failure because of its poor sales, electric pick-ups from Ford and others have also flopped in the US market.

"All of them lost the competition because electric pick ups aren't popular in the US," Mr Munoz said.

But Cybertruck's sharp-edged stainless-steel design limited its prospects in markets like Europe where EVs are more popular. Regulatory approval was impossible for ‌Europe because of rules there concerning pedestrian impact.

"Anywhere where you have crash regulation that takes into account pedestrian impact, that Cybertruck ​won't go, can't go," former Aston Martin CEO Palmer said.

The Cybercab, which has butterfly doors and no ‌steering wheel, pedals or mirrors, is one of Mr Musk's key bets ⁠in his push to turn Tesla into an AI and robotics company rather than just an automaker.

Mr Musk has said he sees ⁠it as Tesla's main autonomous model supplying a global network of robotaxis.

After years of delays to Musk's self-driving targets, Tesla began offering paid rides in a small fleet of ‌Cybercabs in Austin in September. However, the automaker ​still has to answer the US auto safety agency's questions on whether ‌it has properly self-certified Cybercab to demonstrate compliance with federal motor vehicle ​safety standards.

"Cybertruck was an incredible technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab," Mr Morrill said on X.