- Tesla is retiring the Model S and Model X to make way for the Optimus
- Production will cease later this year
- Tesla is moving “into 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 X SUV later this year, stating that the move would free up space at the Fremont, California factory to produce the humanoid robot Optimus.
Launched in 2012, the Model S arguably established Tesla as the cutting-edge electric car company it is today, proving that it was possible to blend cutting-edge technology and impressive performance with sleek design and a usable all-electric range.
The huge Model X then followed in 2015, breaking the SUV mold with Falcon-Wing doors and plenty of room inside. Again, it was accompanied by class-leading battery technology and access to a seamless charging network.
“It’s time to basically end the Model S and X programs with an honorable discharge because we’re really moving into a future that’s based on autonomy,” Musk said during the earnings call.
The ‘autonomy’ Tesla’s CEO is talking about is in reference 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 X have slowed in recent years, with the company lumping them into an “Other Models” category when reporting numbers. This category also includes Cybertruck and Tesla Semi truck.
As a result, it’s been difficult to get an accurate view of total sales, but Electrek has been tracking the decline of Tesla’s once-groundbreaking vehicles for years, suggesting that Model S and X deliveries had fallen more than 30% year-over-year since 2023.
By the end of 2024, sales were estimated at under 50,000 units globally, although the site believes this could be as low as 30,000 units by 2025.
Tesla also failed to refresh the Model S and Model X to the extent it did with the best-selling Model 3 and Model Y recently, adding some new paint options and slightly improved range to the pair last year, but raising the price by $5,000.
This pushed the price of the Model S to $84,990 (around £62,000 / AU$120,000) and the Model X to $89,990 (around £65,000 / AU$128,000) in the US. With a host of premium rivals from the likes of Rivian and Lucid, as well as legacy automakers and new Chinese brands, Tesla customers have shopped elsewhere.
Is Tesla no longer an electric car company?
With most of Tesla’s messaging now revolving around autonomous driving, advances in artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, have we reached a point where Elon Musk has finally lost interest in the electric market altogether?
It certainly seems that way, as its latest roll of the dice, the divisive Cybertruck, bombs… hard.
According to a recent report from Business Insider, Tesla sold just 20,237 Cybertrucks in the U.S. last year, which is nearly half of the number Tesla sold in 2024 and a far cry from the 250,000 a year Musk predicted when the electric pick-up rolled off production lines in 2023 — despite Musk claiming it was “the best vehicle ever” ever made.
Back in 2019, Musk referred to the Model S and Model X as “niche” vehicles, claiming they were of “less importance to our future” at the time, despite selling tens of thousands each quarter.
By that logic, the Cybertruck will likely meet a similar fate to the Model S and Model X in the not-so-distant future, leaving Tesla with only two cars to sell: the Model 3 and the Model Y.
Aside from start-ups and niche manufacturers such as Lucid and Rivian, it is hard to find another global player with a model program that lacks such depth.
But investors continue to support Musk’s focus on advanced humanoid robots and his determination to bring fully autonomous driving to the masses.
This is despite Tesla’s total sales of electric cars, its core business, falling 9% globally in 2025 compared to the previous year, while sales in Europe fell by about 28%, according to CBS News.
Much now rides on the shoulders of the Optimus, which Musk says will be sold 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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