The Tesla Model S that started the brand’s rise to EV dominance is gone, as is the unique Model X SUV.
Following its fourth-quarter production and delivery reports, Tesla had its earnings call Wednesday, with CEO Elon Musk sharing news that will shift focus from its two longest-running models toward a new production lines for battery manufacturing, energy storage and the Optimus autonomous robot program..
“It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge,” said Musk during the meeting to investors and media, “because we’re really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.”
To that end, Tesla claims the production lines that currently build its larger sedan and SUV would shift toward manufacturing up to 1 million Optimus units annually. At the moment, though, it’s still in the development cycle for Optimus. Rather than kicking off production early on in 2026, Musk noted the current generation model isn’t doing “useful work” in Tesla’s factories. That will supposedly happen when the “Gen 3” gets underway, with start of production now planned by the end of this year.
Apart from Tesla’s development focus toward Optimus, it also announced a $2 billion investment through stock acquisition into Musk’s xAI, as part of a recently disclosed financing round on January 16.
Overall, Tesla posted a 46% drop in year-over-year operating income, with its total automotive revenues falling by $7.5 billion (10%) from 2024.
In the case of the Model S and Model X, the cancellations aren’t too surprising, for a couple reasons. The company hasn’t focused on any major updates to either model for some time, and production as well as deliveries for all Tesla Models outside the Model 3/Y dropped by half last year. Keep in mind, Tesla lumps in Model S/Model X/Cybertruck/Semi figures together, and deliveries for all four models totaled just 11,642 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Compare that to Model 3 and Model Y, which sold a combined 422,652 units in the same three-month span. For the whole year, Tesla’s deliveries for Model 3/Y totaled 1.6 million, while everything else only accounted for 50,850 (and yes, that again includes the Cybertruck).
While folks can still buy the Highland Model 3 and Juniper Model Y, the company still hasn’t formally launched any models that could fill the gap for a good long while. Nevertheless, Tesla insists the Roadster is still coming, and we’ll still get the Cybercab for driverless transportation and greater volumes of the Semi for commercial fleets.
At the end of the day, the Tesla Model S and Model X were virtually on their way out of the company’s roadmap. It just happens that now it’s official, so if you were a fan of either car, now is the time for a moment of silence to mourn their passing.
