- Tesla retires Model S and Model X to make room for Optimus
- Production will cease at the end of this year.
- Tesla moves “towards a future based on autonomy”
Elon Musk used Tesla’s quarterly earnings call to announce that the company will stop producing the Model S sedan and Model
Launched in 2012, the Model S arguably established Tesla as the pioneering electric vehicle company it is today, proving that it was possible to combine cutting-edge technology and impressive performance with stylish styling and usable all-electric range.
The massive Model Once again, it was accompanied by class-leading battery technology and access to a seamless charging network.
“Basically, it’s time to end the Model S and X programs with an honorable discharge, because we are really moving toward a future that is built on autonomy,” Musk said during the earnings call.
The “autonomy” that the Tesla CEO talks about refers to the Optimus Humanoid robot, which is planned to be produced on the line currently occupied by the Model S and Model X.
Humanoids aside, sales of Tesla’s expensive Model S and Model This category also includes the Cybertruck truck and Tesla Semi.
As a result, it has been difficult to get an accurate view of overall sales, but Electrek has been tracking the decline of Tesla’s once-pioneering vehicles for years, suggesting that Model S and X deliveries had fallen more than 30% year-over-year since 2023.
At the end of 2024, sales were estimated to be below 50,000 units worldwide, although the website believes they could be as low as 30,000 units in 2025.
Tesla also failed to update the Model S and Model
This raised the cost of the Model S to $84,990 (around £62,000 / AU$120,000) and the Model of Tesla have been buying elsewhere.
Is Tesla no longer an electric vehicle company?
Now that most of Tesla’s messaging revolves around autonomous driving, advances in artificial intelligence, and humanoid robots, have we reached a point where Elon Musk has finally completely lost interest in the electric vehicle market?
It certainly seems that way, as their most recent roll of the dice, the divisive Cybertruck, is bombing…hard.
According to a recent Business Insider report, Tesla sold just 20,237 Cybertrucks in the US last year, which is almost half the number Tesla sold in 2024 and a far cry from the 250,000 a year Musk predicted when the electric pickup truck rolled off production lines in 2023, despite Musk claiming it was “the best vehicle Tesla has ever made” at the time.
Back in 2019, Musk referred to the Model S and Model
By that logic, the Cybertruck will likely face a similar fate to the Model S and Model X in the not-too-distant future, leaving Tesla with just two cars to sell: the Model 3 and Model Y.
Outside of startups and niche manufacturers like Lucid and Rivian, it’s hard to find another global player with a model range that lacks as much depth.
However, investors continue to support Musk’s pivot to advanced humanoid robots and his determination to bring fully autonomous driving to the masses.
This is despite the fact that Tesla’s total electric vehicle sales, its core business, fell 9% globally in 2025, compared to the previous year, while sales in Europe plummeted about 28%, according to CBS News.
A lot now depends on Optimus, which Musk says will go on sale to the public in 2027. But if it’s anything like Tesla’s Roadster, we could be waiting a lot longer for it to arrive.
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