NEW YORK — Tesla’s Cybertruck, the hulking stainless steel pickup that inspired devotion and derision with its sci-fi looks, will cease production next year.
CEO Elon Musk announced the model’s demise Friday with a brief message on Musk said the move was to enable increased production of his Cybercab robotaxi.
For the Cybertruck, a pet project of Musk’s who claimed it was Tesla’s best product, it marks the unceremonious end of one of the auto industry’s most high-profile debuts.
“Few vehicles in history have garnered this much attention,” said Armen Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers automobiles. “The Cybertruck has become a cultural symbol – loved, mocked and impossible to ignore. »
The Cybertruck hit the scene in a spectacular unveiling in 2019, when a Tesla designer threw a metal ball to the vehicle to demonstrate its supposedly unbreakable window, only to see it shatter. He repeated the stunt on another window of the truck and then broke that one too.
Even though some critics mocked him, Musk stood firm.
“I just wanted to create a futuristic battle tank – something that might come out of ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Aliens’ or something like that, but would also be very functional,” he told Automotive News. He called it “a better sports car than a Porsche 911” and “a better truck than an F-150.”
This struck some as the perfect vehicular reflection of the brash and unconventional Musk.
“A really controversial vehicle unveiled by a controversial individual in a market where none of the electric trucks have been able to really capture demand,” said Spencer Penn, a former Tesla executive who left the company before the Cybertruck launched and now runs procurement software company LightSource.
Penn remembers watching the unveiling and initially feeling revolted by the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance “insanity.” But the more he looked at it, the more his opinion changed. He signed up for a pre-sale reservation, but ultimately didn’t get a Cybertruck when Musk’s promises of a price under $40,000 weren’t kept and the first trucks sold for double that or more. Penn called the Cybertruck an integral part of Tesla’s adventurous spirit that drives innovation.
“Some of these bets work and some don’t,” he said.
While the decision to end production of Cybertrucks may be driven by business realities, it also reflects Tesla’s shift to autonomous vehicles, which Musk is betting the company’s future on.
Musk once predicted he would make 250,000 Cybertrucks a year. Kelley Blue Book estimates that Tesla sold just 20,237 vehicles last year, about half as many as the year before. Through the end of September of this year, sales were down 28 percent, according to Kelley Blue Book.
If the Cybertruck’s dystopian, imposing and angular appearance wasn’t enough to turn away many potential buyers, Musk did it himself by ally with a range of right-wing personalitiesnotably American President Donald Trump. He alienated some customers as his image transformed from eccentric innovator to polarizing force. trade your billions for political influence.
Once-enthusiastic Tesla drivers rushed to sell their cars or slapped bumper stickers declaring, “I bought this before Elon went crazy.” » Organizers staged protests outside Tesla showrooms and urged investors to dump company stock. Anger turned to violencewith Molotov cocktails thrown at Tesla vehicles, charging stations set on fire and dealerships covered in graffiti.
Cybertruck lovers also became targets, subjected to cries of “Nazi!” » and the middle finger extended.
Ross Blankenship is one of them. When he first laid eyes on the Cybertruck, he felt transported to a world from his childhood, when he played “Halo,” the science fiction video game. He had to have it.
“I had this kind of kid in me that wanted to be part of something cool that would change the future of automobiles,” Blankenship said on a call from his Cybertruck as he drove through Sunnyside, Colorado. Even though Blankenship found himself agreeing with Musk on policy, he hated seeing a vehicle he loved turn into a political symbol. “I never bought it for any reason other than fascination with future truck technology…so it was a little heartbreaking.”
He would buy another Cybertruck again in a heartbeat, calling its end a “sad moment.”
___
Matt Sedensky can be reached at (email protected) and https://x.com/sedensky
Gn headline
