Tesla CEO Elon Musk is defending Cybertruck as well as the company's decision to stop producing this controversial steel pickup truck, claiming that the number of orders far exceeds production capacity.
On Monday, Musk posted on X that Tesla will stop producing Cybertruck in about eight months. He also said that the company will produce as many of these vehicles as possible before that time, but that Tesla "will have to refund deposits to many people."
Elon Musk argued that Cybertruck is not unprofitable, and Tesla stopped production because "the opportunity cost of the Cybertruck complexity is far outweighed by the value brought by the increased Cybercab output."
In other words, Musk's point is that Tesla could earn more money by repurposing the factory space and resources originally intended for Cybertruck to produce Cybercab robot taxis. Last week, Musk stated that Tesla plans to use this factory space to produce more two-seater Cybercab.
The first batch of Cybertruck was delivered to customers at the end of 2023, and at that time, it seemed poised to become a breakthrough best-selling product for the company. Musk once stated that the number of pre-orders for this vehicle had reached one million, and he predicted that the company would sell about 250,000 units per year.
However, these reservations never translated into actual sales volumes. Tesla has not disclosed the sales volume for Cybertruck separately, but industry experts estimate that since deliveries began in November 2023, the cumulative sales volume for Cybertruck is approximately 71,000 units.
A significant portion of these sales comes from within Musk's other business units. For example, SpaceX (now known as SpaceXSI), which Musk also serves as the CEO of and is the largest shareholder in, purchased Tesla Cybertruck worth $131 million in 2025 according to the registration documents submitted earlier by IPO. Another company under Musk, xAI, also bought Tesla Megapack worth $430 million for its data center before merging with SpaceX.
However, Cybertruck's sales have been weak in the past few months, and now, with news of the production halt, there might be a last slight boost. Nevertheless, even if scarcity brings some stimulation, it is unlikely to push demand for this car back to the much higher levels predicted a few years ago.
