Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that the company will extend production of its Cybertruck through the end of summer 2027. The decision aims to address a significant backlog of orders that current production rates cannot meet.
The extension follows a statement Musk made last week, in which he initially projected that manufacturing for the stainless-steel electric pickup would wind down by mid-2027. Musk stated that the order rate for the vehicle currently exceeds the company's manufacturing capacity at its Texas factory.
In a post on the social media platform X, Musk reported that Tesla would attempt to fulfill as many orders as possible before closing the production line in approximately eight months. However, he noted that the company will be required to return deposits to a large number of customers whose orders cannot be completed before the new deadline.
Some customers expressed concern on social media regarding the availability of their vehicles. One customer on Reddit noted they were awaiting a $59,000 model and expressed doubt that the delivery would occur. Musk acknowledged that continuing production past the original mid-2027 date was not the most profitable choice for the company, describing the move as based on "sentimentality."
The scale of the financial impact is not fully disclosed, but it involves the return of cash deposits and the cessation of a specific production line at the Texas facility. For a household, this means a refund of their specific deposit amount—often $100 or more depending on the order terms—rather than the acquisition of the vehicle. The move represents a shift in Tesla's manufacturing strategy as it balances a high volume of orders against a firm shutdown date for this specific vehicle model.
What happens next is a limited production window of approximately eight months. The production line is now scheduled to remain active until the end of summer 2027, rather than the mid-2027 date previously announced. Customers who do not receive a vehicle by this new deadline can expect to have their deposits returned by Tesla, though the company has not provided a specific schedule for when those refunds will be processed.