Tesla is scaling back Cybertruck production.
The electric-car maker has dropped production targets for several Cybertruck lines over the past few months, two workers with knowledge of the targets told Business Insider. Some lines are running at a small fraction of their previous capacity, and the company has also thinned out a handful of Cybertruck production teams by more than half, these workers said.
Since January, the carmaker has continued to move some workers from the Cybertruck line, which is made at its Gigafactory Texas location, to the Model Y line, four workers said.
“It feels a lot like they’re filtering people out,” one of the workers said. “The parking lot keeps getting emptier.”
A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
During the first three months of 2025, Tesla sold 6,406 Cybertrucks — half that of the previous quarter, according to an estimate from Cox Automotive. Before the truck’s release, Musk said Tesla had more than a million reservations for the vehicle. To date, it has delivered fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks, according to a March 20 recall.
In April, Tesla unveiled its cheapest version of the truck, a $69,990 rear-wheel-drive variant.
Tesla sales more broadly have been trending downward. This year’s first-quarter delivery results, which are seen as a proxy for sales, showed a 13% drop from the same period in 2024.
The most recent Cybertruck production shift follows similar moves made in December 2024, when the carmaker notified workers it would change Cybertruck production schedules and surveyed workers on their preferred role. At the time, workers said they were told the company planned to scale back production targets for the electric pickup truck for the first quarter of 2025.
Tesla’s lackluster delivery numbers come at a time when the company is facing pressure from all fronts. Competitors are edging in to compete with Tesla’s aging lineup, demonstrators are staging protests outside showrooms, and the company’s stock is down around 40% year-to-date.
Shares of the carmaker are still up more than 53% from this time last year.
During a press conference at the White House last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to double the company’s vehicle production rates in the US over the course of the next two years.
In February, during the company’s biannual performance reviews, Tesla asked managers to identify which roles on their teams were vital to the company, three current and former workers said. The company first added the query to employee reviews in February 2024. Workers were also ranked on a scale of one to five. The company eliminated a small percentage of staff during the reviews, two people said.
Do you work for Tesla or have a tip? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com or via the secure-messaging app Signal at 248-894-6012.
