Tesla will return Cybertruck deposits to some customers as it prepares to wind down production of the electric pickup, Elon Musk has said.
The Tesla chief said the number of orders “far exceeds” the company’s production rate. He added that Tesla would try to build as many vehicles as possible before closing the production line in about eight months, but would have to refund deposits to “a lot of people”.
Musk announced last week that production of the Cybertruck at Tesla’s Texas factory would end by mid-2027 to make room for higher production of the Cybercab, the company’s robotaxi line.
Dan Ives, senior managing director of Yorkville Ives & Co, said the decision had been signalled by the vehicle’s high price and low demand. He said ending production would allow Musk to concentrate on robotics and robotaxis.
Musk rejected suggestions that the Cybertruck was being discontinued because it was unprofitable. Instead, he said the “opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production”.
Tesla launched the Cybertruck in 2019 with a starting price of 69,000 US dollars.
In a post on Saturday, Musk said production would continue for another eight to nine months before Tesla shifted its focus to scaling up the Cybercab. “There will never be another vehicle like it,” he said of the Cybertruck.
