Musk Extends Cybertruck Production Through Summer 2027 as Buyers Rush to Claim the Last Trucks

Tesla will keep building the Cybertruck through the end of summer 2027, Elon Musk said Wednesday, giving the stainless-steel pickup a few extra months to work through a backlog of orders that piled up after he announced its end, CBS News reported ^[1]. In a post on X, Musk conceded the move is not the smartest one from a profit-maximizing standpoint, but said there must be "some room in this world for sentimentality" ^[1].

The reversal came five days after Tesla first said it would stop building the truck, and it adds roughly two to three months to the production run, Electrek reported ^[2].

From Wind-Down to Last Call

On Nov. 6, Musk wrote on X that Cybertruck production at Tesla's Texas gigafactory would wind down around the middle of next year to free up room for more production of the Cybercab, the company's driverless robotaxi, Reuters reported ^[3]. He called the Cybertruck the "best vehicle Tesla has ever made," said the existing fleet will be around for a long time and described the change as the end of an era ^[3]. The Austin plant is the only known Tesla facility equipped to make the truck's specialized components, and it is unclear whether production might move elsewhere, Reuters reported ^[3].

Days later, Musk said orders far exceeded production and that Tesla would have to return some customers' deposits, adding that the company would try to build as many trucks as possible before shutting the line in about eight months, CBS reported ^[1]. Fans pushed back hard. Chuck Cook, a well-known tester of Tesla's self-driving software, asked Musk to change his mind, adding that "Cybercab won't haul my bees," Electrek reported ^[2]. Tesla tuning shop Unplugged Performance even offered to take over the Cybertruck line in exchange for a license fee, though no further terms were disclosed ^[2].

The extra months come at a higher price. Tesla raised Cybertruck prices by as much as 10% on the day it announced the end of production and paused orders for the base Dual Motor model, Electrek reported ^[2]. The cheapest Cybertruck now costs $92,490, up from $69,990 in early August, and some buyers are still waiting on a $59,990 version that was offered for 10 days in February ^[2].

Sales Never Matched the Hype

When Musk launched the truck in 2023, he pitched it as a futuristic rival to pickups from GM and Ford, but it has not met those expectations, Reuters reported ^[3]. Tesla does not break out Cybertruck deliveries, folding them into an "Other Models" category that fell to 8,295 vehicles in the third quarter from 12,364 in the second ^[3]. Cox Automotive figures cited by 24/7 Wall St. show U.S. sales of 38,965 in 2024 and 20,237 in 2025, a 48.1% drop, followed by a record-low 3,519 in the first quarter of 2026 ^[4]. In May 2023, Musk had estimated Tesla could eventually sell 250,000 to 500,000 of the trucks a year ^[4].

Electrek estimates the truck was selling about 30,000 units a year before the announcement, roughly a tenth of the 250,000 Tesla planned for, on a line with more than 125,000 units of installed capacity ^[2]. Bloomberg compared the Cybertruck to Ford's Edsel in July, and CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson told Bloomberg the truck was more likely to "fade away" than be discontinued outright, 24/7 Wall St. reported ^[4]. Electrek's Fred Lambert argued the extension mainly placates fans while letting Tesla sell more trucks at higher prices ^[2].

Quality has been another drag. Reuters noted that the Cybertruck has faced multiple recalls and quality-control issues, along with repeated price revisions ^[3]. In one recent case, Tesla recalled 173 trucks from the 2024 to 2026 model years equipped with base 18-inch steel wheels, because cracks in the brake rotor could let wheel studs separate, Fox Business reported; Tesla said it knew of no crashes, injuries or deaths tied to the problem ^[5].

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What Comes Next for Tesla's Lineup

Once the Cybertruck ends, Tesla's consumer lineup will shrink to the Model 3 and Model Y, after the Model S and Model X were discontinued this spring, Electrek reported ^[2]. The Cybercab, which has butterfly doors and no steering wheel, pedals or mirrors, began paid rides in a small Austin fleet in September, while federal safety regulators are still asking whether Tesla properly self-certified it, Reuters reported ^[3].

For driving enthusiasts, Tesla's next headline car is the new Roadster. Unveiled Oct. 15 at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, near Waco, it drove up a ramp, flipped in the air and used thrusters to steady its landing, KPRC in Houston reported ^[6]. Tesla vehicle engineering chief Lars Moravy said it can reach 60 mph in under a second, and the company claims more than 300 miles of range and a top speed above 230 mph ^[6]. Reservations run $50,000 for the Performance version and $250,000 for the thruster-equipped model, with production expected to begin in 2028, more than a decade after Tesla first showed the car in 2017 ^[6].

For now, the most American-looking truck on the road keeps rolling off the line in Texas a little longer. Buyers who want one have until the end of next summer, and Musk's own words suggest not every order will make it.