The Cybertruck Is Dead

After years of lagging sales and multiple high-profile recalls, Elon Musk announced on Friday that Tesla will start closing out production of the Cybertruck in 2027. The announcement marks the end of the road for a vehicle that became synonymous with the politics and aesthetics of MAGA: brutal, aggressive, and in-your-face.

“Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production,” Musk posted on X.

The announcement concludes a humiliating week for Musk, after spending $445 million backing Republicans ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections only for Democrats to seize control of Congress in dozens of history-making elections around the country. The blue wave was especially felt in Texas, where, in recent years, Musk moved significant portions of his business in order to avoid regulation and oversight by Democrats in California. It was during this relocation that the Cybertruck, which debuted in 2023, quickly became linked to Musk’s politics, and later, his singular role in destroying much of the federal government.

But the Cybertruck was plagued with serious problems that went well beyond its association with Musk’s MAGA embrace. Its obnoxious, hulking steel design—which included bulletproof windows that many saw as emblematic of the right’s crime panic—was roundly mocked; multiple recalls were announced; and sales repeatedly struggled.

In other words, ugly, broken, and ultimately rejected. Even in the end, the Cybertruck traces a familiar MAGA trajectory.