Tesla To End Cybertruck Production In Texas By Mid-2027

Elon Musk said Friday that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas gigafactory by mid-2027 to clear space for expanding output of the company's planned self-driving Cybercab robotaxi fleet.^[1]

In a post on X, Musk framed the move as a strategic shift rather than an immediate shutdown, signaling that the angular stainless-steel pickup will stay in production for roughly another year and a half before being phased out in Austin.^[1] CBS, citing Forbes, reported that the Texas plant is currently the only Tesla factory building the Cybertruck and that Tesla has not identified another site to take over the program, raising the possibility that the model could disappear entirely unless production is relocated.^[1]

Tesla began Cybertruck production at its Austin-area gigafactory after years of delays from the vehicle's 2019 unveiling, pitching the pickup as a radical rethink of the traditional truck with a sharp-edged design and emphasis on durability.^[1] Early runs were constrained as Tesla worked through manufacturing challenges tied to the truck's stainless-steel exoskeleton and new battery architecture, and the vehicle's rollout drew intense attention from fans and critics as well as scrutiny over its price, features and build quality.^[1]

Musk has increasingly cast Tesla as an artificial-intelligence and robotics company whose future rests on autonomous vehicles, and he has touted the Cybercab as a dedicated robotaxi that could operate as part of a driverless ride-hailing network.^[1] Reallocating factory space and resources from a niche, high-profile product like the Cybertruck to the Cybercab fits that vision, but it also risks disappointing customers who placed orders for the truck and investors who saw it as a statement of Tesla's engineering ambitions.^[1]

The planned end of Cybertruck production in Texas leaves several open questions: whether Tesla will move the line to another plant, how long existing reservation holders will wait for trucks before the phaseout, and how far along the company really is in readying Cybercabs for mass production and regulatory approval.^[1] For now, Musk's post signals that Tesla's flagship US factory is being reoriented around the company's bet that purpose-built autonomous taxis will matter more to its future than one of the most polarizing pickups ever built.^[1]

1. CBS News