‘Will have to return deposits’: Musk says Tesla will end Cybertruck production, rejects unprofitability claims

Tesla will have to refund deposits to a large number of customers who placed orders for its Cybertruck pickup, as demand has outstripped the company's production capacity, CEO Elon Musk said. The electric vehicle maker plans to wind down production of the model at its Texas factory in about eight months to make room for its autonomous Cybercab.“We will try to make as many as possible before shutting down the line in about 8 months, but will have to return deposits for a lot of people,” Musk said in a post on X on Monday, acknowledging that the Cybertruck's order rate was significantly higher than its production rate.Further rejecting unprofitability rumours, he added, "This is not a case of Cybertruck being unprofitable, as has been misreported by legacy media, but rather that the opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production."The latest comments follow Musk's announcement last week that Tesla would add an extra production shift to clear outstanding Cybertruck orders before ending production. The manufacturing line is expected to be shut down around mid-2027, with resources redirected towards scaling up Cybercab output.Musk has rejected suggestions that the decision to discontinue the pickup was driven by profitability concerns. He argued that the complexity of manufacturing the Cybertruck made expanding its production less valuable than using the capacity to build more Cybercabs.“This is not a case of Cybertruck being unprofitable, as has been misreported by legacy media, but rather that the opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production,” he said.Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in November 2019 and began customer deliveries in November 2023. Despite Musk's ambitious sales projections, the pickup has struggled to attract the expected demand. US sales fell 48 per cent to 20,237 units last year, according to Kelley Blue Book, far below Musk's earlier projection of annual sales reaching 250,000 vehicles.The Cybercab, unveiled in October 2024, is a two-seater autonomous electric vehicle designed without a steering wheel or pedals. It is central to Musk's plan to build a robotaxi network and expand Tesla's self-driving ambitions.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.