Tesla to wind down Cybertruck production after struggles with mass market appeal

Tesla (TSLA.O) plans to wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas gigafactory around the middle of ‌next year, CEO Elon Musk said on Friday, as the futuristic model once touted as a rival to legacy pickup trucks struggles to win mass-market appeal. Musk said in an X post the production wind-down would enable the automaker 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. Tesla did ​not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent outside regular business hours. “Cybertruck fleet will be around for a ​long time,” Musk said in response to a user on X, calling the model the “best vehicle Tesla has ever made” and the wind-down the “end of an era”. “POLARIZING” TECH Musk had, during Cybertruck’s launch in 2023, touted it as a futuristic competitor to pickup trucks from ​General Motors (GM.N) and Ford (F.N). But the vehicle has struggled to meet those expectations. Often described as polarizing, Cybertruck’s unorthodox sharp-edged ​stainless-steel design has limited its prospects outside the US. Regulatory approval became difficult to come by in parts of Europe, depriving Tesla ‌of ⁠major markets that could have helped turn the pickup into a higher-volume product. The model has also faced multiple recalls and quality-control issues, while Tesla has repeatedly revised prices. Tesla does not officially disclose individual sales figures for the Cybertruck. Instead, the automaker groups it into an “Other Models” category, which accounted for just 8,295 deliveries in the third quarter, down from ​12,364 deliveries in the second ​quarter. “Cybertruck was an incredible ⁠technology development platform and lives on through Cybercab,” Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill said on X. MUSK’S NEW BET The Cybercab, which has butterfly doors and no steering wheel, pedals or ​mirrors, is one of Musk’s key bets in his push to turn Tesla into ​an AI ⁠and robotics company. He has said he sees it as Tesla’s main autonomous model within a larger driverless network and that it will eventually be the company’s highest-volume vehicle, 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 properly self-certified Cybercab to demonstrate compliance with ​federal motor vehicle safety standards.