TCRX

With declining sales and failure to meet deliveries in several international markets, the Cybertruck from Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is officially going away. Here’s a look back at the unique Tesla vehicle and how much investors could have made if they invested in Tesla stock along the way.

Tesla Ending Cybertruck Production

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed late Thursday that the electric-vehicle company will stop making the Cybertruck at its Texas Gigafactory in mid-2027.

Because this is the only plant currently producing the electric pickup truck, it means the end of Cybertruck production. This follows a similar theme from Tesla of stopping production of the Model X and Model S in 2026.

The reasoning from Musk is to increase production of another Tesla vehicle, one that could end up selling faster for the company.

"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 tweeted late Thursday.

The news comes after Tesla recently told customers in Australia and New Zealand who had reserved Cybertrucks that they would not be getting the vehicle and would get refunds instead.

Recent third-quarter sales data showed Tesla likely sold 7,000 to 8,000 Cybertrucks in the third quarter, representing annual sales of 28,000 to 32,000 units, well below Musk’s old target of 250,000 units annually.

Investing $1,000 in Tesla Stock

Tesla officially unveiled the Cybertruck to the public at an event on Nov. 21, 2019.

A $1,000 investment could have purchased 2.94 shares of TSLA at the opening print on Nov. 22, 2019.

Tesla underwent stock splits of five-for-one in 2020 and three-for-one in 2022. The splits would take the 2.94 shares to 44.1 total Tesla shares.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $15,769.28 today, based on a Tesla price of $357.58 at the time of writing. It would be up 1,476.9% over the last seven years.

The same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) which tracks the top 500 U.S. stocks, wouldn’t have fared as well. The $1,000 investment in the SPY would be worth $2,377.84 today. This represents a return of 137.8% over the last seven years, significantly trailing the performance of Tesla over the same period.

Investors who passed up the opportunity to buy Tesla stock when the Cybertruck was first unveiled may have considered buying the stock in November 2023 when deliveries took place. An investor could have bought 4.08 Tesla shares with $1,000 based on an opening price of $245.14 on Nov. 30, 2023.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $1,458.93 today, up 45.9%.

The same $1,000 invested in the SPY on Nov. 30, 2023, would be worth $1,624.15 today, up 62.4%.

This shows that the timing of a purchase in Tesla stock would have changed returns, with investors who waited until deliveries began underperforming the broader S&P 500 Index.

Tesla Cybertruck History

Unveiled as a prototype in 2019, the Cybertruck was initially scheduled to enter production in 2021 but faced multiple delays before production began in 2023. Tesla started delivering the electric pickup to customers in November that year.

The film "Blade Runner" and the James Bond vehicle from "The Spy Who Loved Me" inspired the design.

The vehicle’s unique design and fans of Tesla and Musk have led to strong demand. A week after the unveiling, Tesla reported 250,000 reservations via a $100 deposit. Tesla said there were over one million reservations for the vehicle. Third-party estimates put the figure closer to two million units reserved.

The vehicle became one of the first electric pickup trucks and was set to compete with traditional pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).

Tesla estimated it would sell 250,000 Cybertruck units annually by 2025. Musk tried to downplay early expectations for the highly anticipated vehicle’s deliveries.

"I always try to downplay the start of production because the start of production is always very slow. It increases exponentially, but it’s always very slow at first. So I wouldn’t put too much thought into the start of production. It’s kind of when volume production happens, and that’s next year," Musk said during an earnings call.

Tesla sold around 39,000 Cybertrucks in the United States in 2024, making the vehicle the top-selling electric truck for the year. In 2025, sales declined 48% to 20,237 units in the U.S. The vehicle would get passed by the F-150 Lightning from Ford as the most popular EV pickup truck.

Sales in 2026 have not fared much better ahead of the end of production. Annual capacity at the Gigafactory in Texas could make 125,000 Cybertrucks, but that is significantly ahead of demand.

To date, less than 100,000 Cybertrucks have been sold globally.

This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock