The Cybertruck Is Dead. Tesla Isn't Telling The Truth

The reason for Tesla slowing down Cybertruck production, according to Musk, makes no sense at all. It’s okay, Elon. You can say it wasn’t profitable.

Author

Bernardo Montes de Oca
November 10, 2026

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Four Wheel Trends Automotive Newsletter
Issue #223

The Cybertruck is done, but is Tesla telling the truth? Today, we explore what happened.

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In The Know

The Cybertruck Is Cancelled, But Is Tesla Telling The Truth?

There’s something off about this tweet regarding the Cybertruck’s cancellation, and it tells a very interesting story about Tesla.

Tesla announced that it will increase Cybertruck production for the year’s end before ending manufacturing in 2027, as this article highlights.

For an automaker, it’s never a good sign when they have to cancel a specific model. It means something is off, especially when said vehicle, in this case the Cybertruck, had a shorter lifespan than the Pontiac Aztek and Cadillac Catera, to name a few. You can check out other models that outlived the Cybertruck here.

The Cybertruck lasted less than four full production years. The initial production goal was 250,000 vehicles a year by 2025. It never got to that, and the circumstances for this poor performance were varied, as this article explains.

For one, the Cybertruck wasn’t cheap, ranking third in most expensive EV trucks out there.

It also faced several recalls, 11 of them in two years, with the 2024 model year being very troublesome.

So, it wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t very reliable. This bad combination led to poor sales, that we know of, because Tesla doesn’t officially report sales to the public. In 2024, Tesla sold less than 40,000 units. This number was cut by half in 2025, and in 2026, it might reach 15,000 at most.

That’s around 70,000 units from 2024 to 2026, which is a third of what Tesla aimed for in one year. So, it’s clear that the Cybertruck was not a sales hit. That’s why we must go back to the tweet we first showed you.

Elon Musk says the Cybertruck not being profitable isn’t the reason for the cancellation. Instead, it’s that the opportunity cost is “vastly outweighed by the value” of increasing the Cybercab production.

Let’s face it: the company had consistently tried to create discounts, retrim and even reprice the Cybertruck to increase sales, as highlighted here. That’s literally the definition of a product that’s not profitable.

Then, there’s the connection between the Cybercab and Cybertruck. As the comments on this tweet highlight, they’re not overlapping markets. Nobody willing to buy a Cybertruck will instead opt for a Cybercab.

The Cybercab is an entirely different product and that’s fine. It can demand the company’s attention in full. Other automakers have sacrificed one model for another. However, not owning up to reality is a bad move, especially when there are plenty of customers waiting either for a Cybertruck or a refund, because some people might get neither. As this article explains, Musk has said that it will refund some deposits, but not all.

That’s precisely the problem. As the Roadster in the past, and the Cybertruck itself, the Cybercab has created hype. It’s delivering upon this hype that’s Tesla Achiles’ Heel. We’ll see how long this ruse lasts.