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NEW YORK — <\/span>Tesla\u2019s Cybertruck, the hulking, stainless-steel pickup that inspired devotion and derision with its science-fiction looks, will cease production next year.<\/p>\n CEO Elon Musk announced the model\u2019s demise Friday with a curt post on X, his social media site, simply noting production of the vehicle \u201cwill be winding down\u201d around the middle of 2027 at its facility outside Austin, Texas. Musk said the move was to allow increased production of its Cybercab robotaxi.<\/p>\n For the Cybertruck, a pet project of Musk who insisted it was Tesla\u2019s best product, it marks an unceremonious end to one of the auto industry\u2019s most ballyhooed debuts.<\/p>\n \u201cFew vehicles in history have generated as much attention,\u201d said Armen Hareyan, whose Torque News site covers autos. \u201cThe Cybertruck became a cultural symbol \u2013 loved, mocked and impossible to ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cybertruck rolled onto the scene in a dramatic unveiling in 2019, when a Tesla designer hurled a metal ball<\/a> at the vehicle to demonstrate its supposedly unbreakable glass, only to see it shatter. He repeated the stunt on another window of the truck only to shatter that one, too.<\/p>\n Even as some critics scoffed, Musk was steadfast. <\/p>\n \u201cI just wanted to make a futuristic battle tank \u2014 something that looks like it could come out of \u2018Blade Runner\u2019 or \u2018Aliens\u2019 or something like that but was also highly functional,\u201d he told Automotive News. He called it \u201ca better sports car than a Porsche 911\u201d and \u201ca better truck than an F-150.\u201d<\/p>\n It struck some as the perfect vehicular reflection of the brash, convention-busting Musk.<\/p>\n \u201cA really controversial vehicle unveiled by a controversial individual into a market where none of the electric trucks have been able to really capture demand,\u201d said Spencer Penn, a former Tesla executive who left the company before the Cybertruck\u2019s launch and now heads procurement software firm LightSource.<\/p>\n Penn remembered watching the unveiling and feeling initially revolted by the sight of the Cybertruck, calling its appearance \u201cmadness.\u201d But the more he looked at it, the more his opinion changed. He signed up for a pre-sale reservation, though ended up not getting a Cybertruck when Musk\u2019s promises of a price tag under $40,000 went unmet and the first trucks sold for double or more. Penn called the Cybertruck part of Tesla\u2019s adventurous spirit that drives innovation.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these bets work and some of these bets don\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While the decision to end Cybertruck production may be driven by sales realities, it’s also a reflection of Tesla\u2019s shift to autonomous vehicles, on which Musk is betting the company\u2019s future.<\/p>\n Musk once forecast he\u2019d make 250,000 Cybertrucks a year. Kelley Blue Book estimated Tesla sold just 20,237 of the vehicles last year, down about half from the year prior. Sales through the end of September this year were down another 28%, according to Kelley Blue Book.<\/p>\n If the imposing, sharp-angled, dystopian appearance of the Cybertruck weren\u2019t enough to turn many potential buyers away, Musk did so himself by allying with a panoply of right-wing figures<\/a>, most notably U.S. President Donald Trump. He alienated some customers as his image morphed from eccentric innovator to polarizing force trading his billions for political influence<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once-passionate Tesla drivers rushed to sell off their cars, or slapped stickers on the bumper declaring, \u201cI bought this before Elon went crazy.\u201d Organizers staged demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms and urged investors to dump shares of the company\u2019s stock. Anger spilled into violence<\/a>, with Molotov cocktails hurled at Tesla vehicles, charging stations set ablaze, and dealerships covered in graffiti.<\/p>\n Lovers of the Cybertruck became targets, too, subjected to shouts of \u201cNazi!\u201d and extended middle fingers.<\/p>\n 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 would play \u201cHalo,\u201d the sci-fi video game. He had to have it.<\/p>\n \u201cI had that sort of child in me wanting to be part of something cool that would change the future of automotive,\u201d Blankenship said in a call from his Cybertruck as he drove through Sunnyside, Colorado. Even as Blankenship found he agreed with Musk on politics, he hated seeing a vehicle he loved turned into a political symbol. \u201cI never bought it for any other reason than the fascination with the future technology of trucks \u2026 so that was a little heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n He would buy another Cybertruck again in a heartbeat, calling its end \u201ca sad moment.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https:\/\/x.com\/sedensky<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n