Musk's Misses Hurt TSLA & His Credibility
In my 2024’s post on 23 April, I have listed all the misses Mr Musk has achieved. click here ! to read about it.
There will be a new addition soon - “Tesla will stop making Cybertrucks next year”. (see below)
On Fri, 06 Nov 2026, $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ CEO Elon Musk said the EV maker will be “winding down” production of Cybertruck at its Texas gigafactory around mid 2027, even though Musk had previously hailed it as the future of the pickup truck.
Built exclusively at the Texas plant alongside the Model Y and Cybercab, a 2-seater that CEO Musk has touted as a crucial product for the automaker's future.
The Cybertruck's production wind-down will let TSLA make more of robotaxi, which has slowly been made central to TSLA’s autonomous-vehicle ambitions but still has not proven itself commercially.
Initially, Musk did not confirm whether the company would produce the Cybertruck at a different facility.
The automaker's Austin plant is the only known TSLA facility equipped to manufacture specialized components for the heavy, angular model. So, its obvious.
In the same post, he also confirmed that TSLA will return Cybertruck deposits to some of its customers as the company prepares to wind down production of the electric pickup truck.
In announcing the decision in a Monday social media post, Musk said that the Cybertruck order rate "far exceeds" production rate.
However, he responded later to a user on X who called the update an “end of an era” and said the Cybertruck was the best (really ?) vehicle TSLA has ever made.
To which Musk responded - “True, but the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time”, squeezing in his last say, as usual.
Honestly, if it is a product in demand, why would we be staring at demise in the face ?
The announcement comes at the end of a bruising week for Musk, as his record political spending of nearly half a billion dollars yielded little in Tuesday's US midterm elections, with the vast majority of the Republican candidates he backed losing their races.
Tesla began Cybertruck deliveries in late 2023. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
The Cybertruck and its polarizing design gained a niche following, but it did not achieve mass-market sales, despite Musk’s pre-launch prediction that annual sales would eventually total 250,000.
When the cybertruck was first unveiled in 2019, Musk remarked that trucks in America had remained essentially unchanged for a century, stating an ambition to try something different.
While TSLA does not break down its sales by model or region, Cox Automotive estimated sales of the Cybertruck last year at 20,237 units in the US, down -48% from 38,965 in 2024.
"It doesn't make sense to keep it going when it's not meeting its targets" said former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. "Every rational auto guy would say the same."
“Interestingly”, Musk's $SpaceX(SPCX)$ was one of the model's biggest customers in 2025 and bought $131 million worth of Cybertrucks from TSLA at list price.
According to SPCX’s IPO financial filing, the company has spent $131 million, buying the angular steel trucks at TSLA’s suggested retail price, “artificially” boosting TSLA’s topline.
The truck’s distinct look made some cybertrucks’ owners a target of rude gestures and more serious road rage.
As recounted to CNBC in May 2026, after Musk became the biggest donor of Trump’s presidential campaign and subsequently led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a mandate to slash US federal workforce and regulations.
Wired wrote in an October 2025 feature story, “There is likely no object that feels more emblematic of US president Donald Trump’s return to the White House than TSLA’s Cybertruck.”
The magazine interviewed owners who described being spit on and sworn at due to their choice of truck.
Cybertruck’s specifications also fell short of those TSLA advertised early on.
In some cases, it even fell short of those offered by leading fuel-burning pickups. There have also been many quality & production issues, associated with the vehicles.
According to US’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website - in 2024, TSLA’s Cybertruck was the subject of 11 voluntary recalls.
Issues ranged from:
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Software defects.
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Inverter fault that could result in sudden loss of drive power.
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A “trapped” acceleration pedal risk that could cause unintended acceleration.
Cybertruck Owners Challenges.
Honestly, I am surprised that TSLA stock price rose by +5.54% on Mon, 09 Nov 2026. (see below)
Maybe investors and cybertruck owners are really two distinct groups ?
With cybertruck production cease officially announced, all cybertruck owners will face uphill challenges going forward.
This includes:
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Firstly, parts & repairs could become slower or more expensive after production ends, because the Cybertruck is built only in Texas and uses specialised stainless-steel components.
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Going forward, cybertruck owners may find fewer buyers when selling, since it is a low-volume, polarising vehicle with heavily falling sales.
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Software updates, warranty, and service support should continue for now.
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As usual, Mr CEO who is always short on details has not yet issue a clear long-term commitment beyond his remarks that the fleet will be around “for a long time”.
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Financing, re-financing and trade-in offers may become less favourable if lenders & dealers see the model as discontinued or harder to value.
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Insurance premiums are bound to spike sharply, as risk-wary underwriters view discontinued, low-volume vehicles featuring complex digital systems and custom panels as expensive to repair or total out.
For longer-term planning, iSeeCars estimates that a Cybertruck retains about:
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50.5% of its value after 3 years.
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43.5% of its value after 5 years.
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26.2% percent after 10 years.
This implies a 5-year-old cybertruck is worth roughly $30,418 based on above depreciation model.
My viewpoints : (mine only)
The combination of (a) an official commercial discontinuation, (b) limited buyer pools, and (c) lingering brand stigma transforms what was once a futuristic conversation piece into a stark reminder of a short-lived production experiment, leaving an owner to absorb a significant hit to their asset's worth.
To think that Elon Musk did not even apologize, pity these truck owners, conned yet again by the snake oil salesman.
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Do you think TSLA's sudden pivot away from the Cybertruck to focus on unproven robotaxis will ultimately hurt investors and their confidence in the long run ?
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Do you think existing Cybertruck owners should be more worried about resale value and repair costs, OR should they wait to see whether Tesla provides a firm long-term commitment on parts, warranty, and service?
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