Musk Says Would-Be Cybertruck Buyers Will Get Deposits Back
Tesla will return deposits to “a lot of people” who reserved a Cybertruck because the Austin, Texas-based EV maker will be unable to fill every order before its production line shuts down in about eight months, CEO Elon Musk said in an X post Monday.
“The Cybertruck order rate far exceeds our production rate,” Musk writes. “We will try to make as many as possible before shutting down the line in about 8 months, but will have to return deposits for a lot of people,” specifying neither how many customers will be refunded nor how much money is involved.
The post follows Musk’s announcement Friday that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production in Texas around mid-2027 to expand output of its Cybercab robotaxi. Musk has also said Tesla will add an extra production shift to fill outstanding Cybertruck orders before the line is dismantled.
In the same post, Musk rejects reports that the truck is being dropped because it loses money. “This is not a case of Cybertruck being unprofitable, as has been misreported by legacy media, but rather that the opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production.”
Cybertruck demand has fallen far short of Musk’s initial projections of up to 250,000 new units per year. U.S. sales fell 48% to 20,237 in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book (div. Cox Automotive). Automotive News’s Laurence Iliff said the truck could be “officially considered a flop” after Tesla offered modest discounts to Cybertruck buyers in January.
