Rival Tesla Model X to end production

Administrator · Jan 28, 2026

Tesla just announced on a Q4 earnings call that they are ending production of the Model X and S, effective next quarter (Q2 2026).

“It's time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge. We're moving into a future that is based on autonomy. We're going to take the Model S and X production space in our Fremont Factory, and convert that into an Optimus factory with the long-term goal of 1M/year. It's part of our overall shift to an autonomous future.”

captainjp · Jan 28, 2026

Tesla = Skynet

mkg3 · Jan 28, 2026

Discontinuing Model S and X makes sense.

In their earnings call and their shareholder deck, it shows 53,900 vehicles total. This is sum of Cyber Truck, Tesla Semi, Model S and X. If one assumes roughly half for the trucks, then S and X are somewhere around 27,000 units.

The factory utilization in Fremont is very low at these quantity so they can cut costs and repurpose the line (Optimus).

It takes more money to update both S and X than they would return so they made the hard decision to end the line.

Donald Stanfield · Jan 28, 2026

Tesla is really doing their best to become irrelevant. If they fail this gamble on these robots, that sofar are totally useless, they are done.

Zorg · Jan 28, 2026

Donald Stanfield said:
Tesla is really doing their best to become irrelevant. If they fail this gamble on these robots, that sofar are totally useless, they are done.

Gambling the company on Robotaxi and robots seems a crazy. If they don't sell much, my expectation, how will they recover?

BigSkies · Jan 28, 2026

Zorg said:
Gambling the company on Robotaxi and robots seems a crazy. If they don't sell much, my expectation, how will they recover?

They'll sell some more Cybertrucks to SpaceX, and promote some new future AI product to be delivered in a decade as a way to pump the stock.

CrazyOne · Jan 28, 2026

Very interesting move, ceasing the production of their premium products. Knowing Elon, It could be reversed later this week.

Nixapatfan · Jan 28, 2026

Hopefully those robots are legit unlike the Model 2 and new roadster. Seems like they could have continued the Model X with minor refresh and simplified doors at a lower price point.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out cutting 40% of their product portfolio.

Time2Roll · Jan 28, 2026

I was expecting the CT would be first cut from the team.

savethemanual · Jan 28, 2026

What a horrible waste of an American automotive company. Elon was never really a car guy, will be fascinating to watch their automotive division slowly die.

Just Passing By · Jan 28, 2026

mkg3 said:
Discontinuing Model S and X makes sense.

It makes sense based on their stated strategy and the unit breakdown you provided, but it doesn't make sense to walk away from premium high margin car sales in the price range covered by S and X. Musk has always been a gambler and its worked out so far, but if Optimus and Cybercab don't deliver, or take much longer to do so than anticipated by Musk, then Tesla might regret not maximizing its vehicle revenue stream.

They should be developing replacement models for S and X and seeking to increase sales in this category. Especially because their earnings deck stated "Preparations continue in North America for the production ramps of Tesla Semi and Cybercab, both commencing 1H26, and production of the next-generation Roadster."

Presumably the new Roadster will be a mega expensive super-car which is why its still being mentioned, but it leaves a massive gap between it and the M3 and MY. So a rather incoherent product line up.

TexasBob · Jan 28, 2026

captainjp said:
Tesla = Skynet

Tesla = Nikola of robotics.

renderpaz · Jan 28, 2026

If the world is going autonomous it still needs 3 row SUVs...

I don't have a doom-and-gloom view of Tesla, however I think this move is revealing and quite embarrassing. Despite its size and market cap, Tesla is unable to execute on multiple products simultaneously. Even mid-size car brands have 20+ models, all being updated and refreshed regularly. Tesla is down to 3 (arguably 2), which it updates iteratively and never simultaneously.

This is an over-leveraged product portfolio, and possibly organizational architecture. Tesla needs to do the work to operate in parallel. That's why we don't have a roadster, or a semi (among other reasons) or a R1S competitor.

It's almost like they have one big bottleneck which all decisions must go through and prevent the company from scaling.

vigorousRival · Jan 28, 2026

Once upon a time I coveted a model s since I was in love with EVs and it was the first mass market EV that had legit range and performance specs. I never could stomach the price though. I ended up with a model 3 years later and loved that car very much. I’m pretty sad to see what’s happened to the company thanks to his insanity. It’s remarkable that they ever produced anything worth buying with him in charge. There must have been so many talented people finding ways to work around him and produce an exceptional and groundbreaking product despite all of the challenges. Anyway, I feel like Rivian owes Tesla at least a debt of gratitude for making EVs cool to the average American. RIP the Model S (the X is ugly af so not sad about that one haha).

SANZC02 · Jan 28, 2026

vigorousRival said:
Once upon a time I coveted a model s since I was in love with EVs and it was the first mass market EV that had legit range and performance specs. I never could stomach the price though. I ended up with a model 3 years later and loved that car very much. I’m pretty sad to see what’s happened to the company thanks to his insanity. It’s remarkable that they ever produced anything worth buying with him in charge. There must have been so many talented people finding ways to work around him and produce an exceptional and groundbreaking product despite all of the challenges. Anyway, I feel like Rivian owes Tesla at least a debt of gratitude for making EVs cool to the average American. RIP the Model S (the X is ugly af so not sad about that one haha).

Like you I wanted a Model S but 100k was more than I wanted to spend. I originally got on the list for a Model 3, a few months later I got an email from Tesla to get a Model S 60 for 65k. It was a software limited 75, came with lifetime free super charging and premium data, with autopilot and leather seats was 72k. I figured the first Model 3s were going to be close to that price and that Tesla was going to start maxing out production for the tax credits so pulled the trigger on the Model S. Between federal tax credit and some state and local rebates got 12k back. 2 years in Tesla sent an offer to lift the software limited and rebadge the car to a 75 for 2k.

10 years and 114k miles later we still have the car and it is still one of our favorite vehicles. Will be sad to see them stop producing that model.

Rival Tesla Model X to end production

Administrator

Administrator

captainjp

Well-Known Member

mkg3

Well-Known Member

Donald Stanfield

Well-Known Member

Zorg

Well-Known Member

BigSkies

Well-Known Member

CrazyOne

Well-Known Member

Nixapatfan

Well-Known Member

Time2Roll

Well-Known Member

savethemanual

Well-Known Member

Just Passing By

Well-Known Member

TexasBob

Well-Known Member

renderpaz

Well-Known Member

vigorousRival

Well-Known Member

SANZC02

Well-Known Member

Similar threads