Tesla to phase out Model S and Model X so it can focus on robots

[Skye Jacobs]

What just happened? Tesla's Fremont, California, factory – once home to the Model S and Model X – will soon build humanoid robots instead of cars. Elon Musk confirmed during Tesla's fiscal 2025 earnings call that production of the company's two oldest electric vehicles will "basically stop" next quarter, as engineers refit the facility for the Optimus program, Tesla's most ambitious robotics effort to date.

The decision ends a major chapter in Tesla's history. The Model S, introduced in 2012, and the Model X, launched in 2015, helped define the premium electric vehicle segment and positioned Tesla as a pioneer in modern automotive design.

Over time, however, sales of the higher-priced models fell sharply as the Model 3 and Model Y – Tesla's simpler, more affordable EVs – came to dominate production and deliveries. In 2025, Tesla sold just over 418,000 Model S and X vehicles, compared with more than 1.5 million Model 3 and Y units.

The decline was compounded by a trade dispute that halted Model S and X sales in China, their largest overseas market, due to retaliatory tariffs between Beijing and Washington. With global demand tapering and Tesla's strategic focus shifting toward artificial intelligence and automation, winding down the older product lines became increasingly inevitable.

Musk framed the move as a forward-looking transition rather than a retreat. He described the end of production as an "honorable discharge," stressing that Tesla will continue to support existing vehicles while redirecting resources toward autonomy.

The Fremont facility, once optimized for large-scale EV assembly, is now slated to become the manufacturing base for Musk's humanoid robot, Optimus. Tesla's long-term target is to produce as many as one million units at the site.

Credit: App Economy Insights

Optimus remains an early-stage technology. First unveiled in prototype form in 2022, the humanoid robot has been shown performing simple manual tasks, but live demonstrations have also exposed its limitations in mobility and dexterity.

Despite those shortcomings, Musk insists Optimus will eventually surpass the smartphone in market impact. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month, he reiterated that Tesla plans to begin selling the robot by the end of next year.

Tried to start a fight at the Tron: Ares premiere pic.twitter.com/TvWCOaXIlN

– Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) October 7, 2025

For Musk, the pivot from EVs to autonomous hardware and humanoid robotics reflects what he has long described as Tesla's ultimate purpose: deploying artificial intelligence at massive industrial scale. Retiring the Model S and X clears legacy ground for that experiment to begin.

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Tesla to phase out Model S and Model X so it can focus on robots

 

[NumberNine]

This being the case, why would anyone who can plan more than a few seconds into the future ever have reason to buy a Tesla again, knowing that one day they'll be left holding a plastic delorian?

 

[Kirby1]

Don't let these things near your kids, they will undress them.

In a sane world, making a giant child porn generation machine would get you kicked out of society, but not in Maga world!

 

[Homerlovesbeer]

This being the case, why would anyone who can plan more than a few seconds into the future ever have reason to buy a Tesla again, knowing that one day they'll be left holding a plastic delorian?

Are u serious? The models being discontinued aren't new, they're EOL anyway. A replacement model was long overdue too.
I think Elon is smart to focus on Robot's especially now the Chinese are flooding the world with (sometimes poor) EV's

 

[NumberNine]

Are u serious? The models being discontinued aren't new, they're EOL anyway. A replacement model was long overdue too.
I think Elon is smart to focus on Robot's especially now the Chinese are flooding the world with (sometimes poor) EV's

If they're serious about being a factory robotics company instead of a car company then yes. Why buy a car like that when you can buy from a company who focuses only on making cars and nothing else? In corporate strategy, anything not the primary focus can immediately be considered potentially expendable.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Tesla did not sell 418,000 Model S and X vehicles in 2025. They sold that many vehicles of all kinds in Q4 of 2025. Instead, for all of 2025 Tesla sold 50,000 Cybertruck, Model S, Model X, and Semis. The cited Engadget article is wrong, and the source Engadget links to proves that: https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-fourth-quarter-2025-production-deliveries-deployments

Much more importantly than this, Tesla plans to double capital expenditure spending in 2026 to $20B: https://www.thestreet.com/automotiv...ding-spree-analyst-calls-difficult-to-justify

That almost guarantees TSLA will both borrow money and issue new shares. That said, Tesla does have $44 billion of cash & cash equivalents and little debt currently, so they're in a healthy position. But this is going to be something on-going. One analyst has recently suggested that Tesla will need to finance somewhere around half a trillion dollars to carry out its current plans over the next 10 years:

This being the case, why would anyone who can plan more than a few seconds into the future ever have reason to buy a Tesla again, knowing that one day they'll be left holding a plastic delorian?

Tesla also said that they would continue to support the vehicles for as long as people use them. My 2015 Model S still gets software updates for instance. The cars function entirely on their own and work great even if all Internet connectivity is lost (which has happened to some Teslas if owners never opted to upgrade to 4G modems from 3G).

 

[bviktor]

so it can focus on robots

Yeah, officially.

In reality, no one bought them.

It doesn't matter though. The cultists can't be bothered with facts and reality.

In reality
- Model 3/Y sales numbers have been slipping for the 2nd consecutive year.
- Profits collapsed by 90% (from the $8bn peak in 2023Q4 down to just $800m in 2025Q4).
- Mass layoffs in Germany plant due to underutilization.
- Musk promised at least 3 or 4 new factories, all of them are cancelled, and radio silence about them ever since.
- Robotaxi was promised by 2020 (!) with 1 million (!) cars. It's the year 2026 now.
- That "unsupervised" *test* run in Texas is actually supervised by a ghost car following them. There's also a remote spectator. So it's supervised by at least 2 different persons. Yes, this is really what they call "unsupervised" now.
- Even Musk himself claimed just a few days ago that robot production will be "agonizingly slow" for now. Surely, that needs dedicated S / X factories. Surely.
- Musk also promised 20 million cars produced *annually* by 2030, with a 50% growth annually for 10 years straight. The cultists don't remember that anymore either.
- Musk also promised FSD for 2017 first (or was it 2016, can't really keep track of his constant lies, there's just too many). It's the year 2026 now.

Now there's almost no metric on Earth anymore that would portray Tesla in a positive light. There's also plenty of factual evidence that all Musk does is over-promise and under-deliver. A.k.a. pump the stock.

But it all doesn't matter. The cultists want to believe. So let them be. It's a pointless argument at this point, really. The writing's on the wall, but they still don't get it.

 

[Beerfloat]

Go create an AI image of Nancy Pelosi or something to soothe yourself, do some stress relief.

Decent advice that you ought to practice considering everything else that you vomited out made zero sense.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Don't let these things near your kids, they will undress them.

In a sane world, making a giant child porn generation machine would get you kicked out of society, but not in Maga world!

Only you could take an article about a car factory and turn it into talking about CP. Wonder why thats the first place your mind went.

This being the case, why would anyone who can plan more than a few seconds into the future ever have reason to buy a Tesla again, knowing that one day they'll be left holding a plastic delorian?

Buddy, calm down. Car models get discontinued every year. Thats not new. Guarantee you whatever car you drive will not be in production in 5 years. Know why? Because car model sgo out of production all the time.

If they're serious about being a factory robotics company instead of a car company then yes. Why buy a car like that when you can buy from a company who focuses only on making cars and nothing else? In corporate strategy, anything not the primary focus can immediately be considered potentially expendable.

People who think corporations cant build more than 1 product at a time oust themselves as having no idea how corporations work.

Did you know Honda makes lawnmowers? Guess the Civic is good as dead! Oh wait, they made ASIMO! Guess their lawncare business is gonna close an day now!

 

[NumberNine]

Tesla did not sell 418,000 Model S and X vehicles in 2025. They sold that many vehicles of all kinds in Q4 of 2025. Instead, for all of 2025 Tesla sold 50,000 Cybertruck, Model S, Model X, and Semis. The cited Engadget article is wrong, and the source Engadget links to proves that: https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-fourth-quarter-2025-production-deliveries-deployments

Much more importantly than this, Tesla plans to double capital expenditure spending in 2026 to $20B: https://www.thestreet.com/automotiv...ding-spree-analyst-calls-difficult-to-justify

That almost guarantees TSLA will both borrow money and issue new shares. That said, Tesla does have $44 billion of cash & cash equivalents and little debt currently, so they're in a healthy position. But this is going to be something on-going. One analyst has recently suggested that Tesla will need to finance somewhere around half a trillion dollars to carry out its current plans over the next 10 years:

Tesla also said that they would continue to support the vehicles for as long as people use them. My 2015 Model S still gets software updates for instance. The cars function entirely on their own and work great even if all Internet connectivity is lost (which Tesla has actually replaced 3G modems with 4G ones in all older vehicles).

Unless that is signed into a service contract or other binding agreement to indefinitely support the vehicle for as long as it is owned, those words mean nothing. My car has a signed support contract with a finite scope that is enforceable. Every aspect of that contract is clearly defined and zero faith.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Unless that is signed into a service contract or other binding agreement to indefinitely support the vehicle for as long as it is owned, those words mean nothing. My car has a signed support contract with a finite scope that is enforceable. Every aspect of that contract is clearly defined and zero faith.

Industry standard is to offer 10 years of supplying critical components for repair. New model S units are still under warranty. Just because they no longer make the S or X doesnt mean parts will not be available.

Well, no worse than is typical for getting Tesla parts, that is.

 

[netman]

"Tesla to phase out Model S and Model X so it can focus on robots"

Might as well phase out all the other models...!

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Unless that is signed into a service contract or other binding agreement to indefinitely support the vehicle for as long as it is owned, those words mean nothing. My car has a signed support contract with a finite scope that is enforceable. Every aspect of that contract is clearly defined and zero faith.

Tesla has its own binding contract and currently guarantees a minimum of 8 years of standard connectivity included free of charge with the purchase of its vehicles. Furthermore Tesla makes revenue from premium connectivity subscriptions (so it's unlikely to take away connectivity and hardware support). By your standards, at least until 2034 Model S and X vehicles will continue to be supported.

My own vehicle has had 11 years of premium connectivity for free, going well beyond the original 4 years promised to me. Does your car's service contract that kind of longevity?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"Tesla to phase out Model S and Model X so it can focus on robots"

Might as well phase out all the other models...!

Why would they do that when the model y consistently ranks high up in small SUV sales and the 3 practically has a monopoly on small EV cars in the US?

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Industry standard is to offer 10 years of supplying critical components for repair. New model S units are still under warranty. Just because they no longer make the S or X doesnt mean parts will not be available.

Well, no worse than is typical for getting Tesla parts, that is.

Honestly getting parts for Teslas has become far more easy... Owners can purchase them themselves now and are even given instructions on how to install them. 5 years ago it was almost exactly the opposite. This is Tesla's entire catalog: https://parts.tesla.com/

In September (my car was 10.5 years old), I was able to purchase a window regulator online from Tesla, I was given a tracking number, and it arrived at my house in 3 days. Then I went to a local repair shop and they installed it in an hour.

 

[AnilD]

The Model S ending production really feels like the close of Tesla’s original era. It was somewhat revolutionary in 2012, and now it’s basically being sunset because Tesla wants to bet the factory on something even more futuristic.

The Fremont pivot is also a signal that Tesla sees itself less as a car company and more as an AI/robotics company. Either that or it needs a way to justify its bloated market cap. Producing a million humanoid robots is such an enormous leap compared to where Optimus is today.

 

[Str8Shot]

Did you know Honda makes lawnmowers? Guess the Civic is good as dead! Oh wait, they made ASIMO! Guess their lawncare business is gonna close an day now!

Actually, Honda no longer does. I know because I was looking to buy one last year, but they exited the business. Went with a Toro instead.

 

[Y2JB47]

Never has a stock been more overvalued than Tesla. The house of cards will fall at some point when reality comes knocking and it will be glorious when the cult get what they deserve.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

It doesn't matter though. The cultists can't be bothered with facts and reality.

In reality
- Model 3/Y sales numbers have been slipping for the 2nd consecutive year.
- Profits collapsed by 90% (from the $8bn peak in 2023Q4 down to just $800m in 2025Q4).
- Mass layoffs in Germany plant due to underutilization.
- Musk promised at least 3 or 4 new factories, all of them are cancelled, and radio silence about them ever since.
- Robotaxi was promised by 2020 (!) with 1 million (!) cars. It's the year 2026 now.
- That "unsupervised" *test* run in Texas is actually supervised by a ghost car following them. There's also a remote spectator. So it's supervised by at least 2 different persons. Yes, this is really what they call "unsupervised" now.
- Even Musk himself claimed just a few days ago that robot production will be "agonizingly slow" for now. Surely, that needs dedicated S / X factories. Surely.
- Musk also promised 20 million cars produced *annually* by 2030, with a 50% growth annually for 10 years straight. The cultists don't remember that anymore either.
- Musk also promised FSD for 2017 first (or was it 2016, can't really keep track of his constant lies, there's just too many). It's the year 2026 now.

Now there's almost no metric on Earth anymore that would portray Tesla in a positive light. There's also plenty of factual evidence that all Musk does is over-promise and under-deliver. A.k.a. pump the stock.

But it all doesn't matter. The cultists want to believe. So let them be. It's a pointless argument at this point, really. The writing's on the wall, but they still don't get it.

Funny because you sound like a hardcore cultist...

1. It's true that automotive sales are slightly down, but it's also still up from the year prior to their 2023 peak (and all prior year).

2. Tesla's gross profits are roughly flat regardless of decreasing vehicle deliveries. Their energy business and other services have grown significantly, entirely offsetting revenue reduction from the car business. You probably meant to say Tesla's net "income" collapsed (affected by taxes, R&D, administrative things). The biggest reason for those reductions is because they're investing that money into developing FSD, robots, batteries, AI and other technologies.

Furthermore, you cite GAAP net income and chose 2023 Q4. That's an extremely biased choice because that was the only quarter where $6B of the net income was a one-time tax benefit. Therefore, the 90% collapse is a complete lie because that metric wasn't representative of their business: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/0...ncial-results-for-2023-profit-margin-shrinks/


3. You use extremely biased language of "Musk promised" when none of these were promises, and you also proceed to lie about what he said lol. If you're going to claim he said something, you need to quote what he said instead of making up whatever sounds best to you. In reality, Elon Musk typically precedes his claims with the nuanced "I think". For example, this is the exact quote of what Elon said about autonomy early on that you say was a promise of FSD in 2017:
"Our goal is, and I feel pretty good about this goal is, we'll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York."
Yes it didn't happen, and Tesla stopped planning to make a demonstration, but it's entirely feasible now. One Tesla owner even documented himself driving cross-country entirely on FSD, intervention-free. FSD still needs to be monitored, but lots of owners go thousands of miles without disengagements now.

Anyways, if you really don't think there's any metric that portrays Tesla in a positive light, all you need to do is look at their latest annual earnings report to be proven wrong lol: https://assets-ir.tesla.com/tesla-contents/IR/TSLA-Q4-2025-Update.pdf

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Actually, Honda no longer does. I know because I was looking to buy one last year, but they exited the business. Went with a Toro instead.

They still do, they just pulled out of the gas market in the US. They still make gas model sin other markets like Europe (and for anyone from Europe who thinks we don't have regulations, air regulations killed the gas mower in the US before it did in Europe. Let that sink in). They also have a line called the izy-ON of electric mowers that are not sold here, largely because Honda is currently not competitive with offerings from Greenworks and Ego.

 

[wiyosaya]

Yeah, officially.

In reality, no one bought them.

It doesn't matter though. The cultists can't be bothered with facts and reality.

In reality
- Model 3/Y sales numbers have been slipping for the 2nd consecutive year.
- Profits collapsed by 90% (from the $8bn peak in 2023Q4 down to just $800m in 2025Q4).
- Mass layoffs in Germany plant due to underutilization.
- Musk promised at least 3 or 4 new factories, all of them are cancelled, and radio silence about them ever since.
- Robotaxi was promised by 2020 (!) with 1 million (!) cars. It's the year 2026 now.
- That "unsupervised" *test* run in Texas is actually supervised by a ghost car following them. There's also a remote spectator. So it's supervised by at least 2 different persons. Yes, this is really what they call "unsupervised" now.
- Even Musk himself claimed just a few days ago that robot production will be "agonizingly slow" for now. Surely, that needs dedicated S / X factories. Surely.
- Musk also promised 20 million cars produced *annually* by 2030, with a 50% growth annually for 10 years straight. The cultists don't remember that anymore either.
- Musk also promised FSD for 2017 first (or was it 2016, can't really keep track of his constant lies, there's just too many). It's the year 2026 now.

Now there's almost no metric on Earth anymore that would portray Tesla in a positive light. There's also plenty of factual evidence that all Musk does is over-promise and under-deliver. A.k.a. pump the stock.

But it all doesn't matter. The cultists want to believe. So let them be. It's a pointless argument at this point, really. The writing's on the wall, but they still don't get it.

Here's an interesting article of everything fElon promised to deliver in 2025 but has, so far, only delivered BS. https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-failed-to-deliver-on-2025-promises
Personally, I don't know why people continue to listen to his BS. You are right about the cultists. IMO, Optimus is just another line of BS from fElon.

 

[wiyosaya]

The Model S ending production really feels like the close of Tesla’s original era. It was somewhat revolutionary in 2012, and now it’s basically being sunset because Tesla wants to bet the factory on something even more futuristic.

The Fremont pivot is also a signal that Tesla sees itself less as a car company and more as an AI/robotics company. Either that or it needs a way to justify its bloated market cap. Producing a million humanoid robots is such an enormous leap compared to where Optimus is today.

Honestly, I don't think fElon has yet figured out what Tesla is. IMO, he seems to be scrambling like he is cooking scrambled eggs.

 

[wiyosaya]

I think this sums up fElon perfectly - https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-grok-praise-athletic-intelligent-ai-chatbot

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Here's an interesting article of everything fElon promised to deliver in 2025 but has, so far, only delivered BS. https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-failed-to-deliver-on-2025-promises
Personally, I don't know why people continue to listen to his BS. You are right about the cultists. IMO, Optimus is just another line of BS from fElon.

I took a look at the article and stopped reading after 3 red flags. First, it’s an opinion piece. Second the author used “Elon promised” in the title. I’d be very interested in hearing any time he used the words “I promise” in a future looking statement lol. And third, it starts the first claim with one that goes “I believe”. That’s just clickbait junk.

More interesting is a team of independent autonomy experts proving Tesla FSD will drive itself across the country without any intervention (supposedly it’s all on video too): https://www.thedrive.com/news/a-tesla-actually-drove-itself-from-los-angeles-to-new-york-exclusive

 

[3ogdy]

So the SOB who will deal us the last blow and leave us without jobs is here and he's Elon Musk.