MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
One of the most polarizing vehicles on the road will soon be history. Elon Musk says Tesla will wind down manufacturing of its Cybertruck at the company's gigafactory in Texas mid next year.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The truck's embarrassing unveiling in 2019 may have been somewhat prophetic. Musk had a metal ball thrown at the truck's window to demonstrate its, quote, "armor glass."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Sure?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS BREAKING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh, my [expletive] God. Well, maybe that was a little too hard.
CHANG: Oops. The window shattered. So they tried another one. Same result.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Try another one? Really? OK.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Sure.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Aw, man.
PATRICK GEORGE: The Cybertruck's demise is really interesting 'cause I think it's actually tied to a few factors.
KELLY: Patrick George covers the auto industry for the Wall Street Journal.
GEORGE: There's the fact that that design that it has is deeply hit or miss, to put it politely. You know, it's a very big, angular, imposing, kind of brutal looking thing, and people really love it or hate it.
KELLY: Yeah, that brutal looking design - Musk says it was inspired in part by the 1977 James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me"...
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ROGER MOORE: (As James Bond) Can you swim?
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KELLY: ...Specifically by a sleek roadster nicknamed Wet Nellie that plunged into the water and transformed into a submarine.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) It's time we said goodbye to an uninvited guest.
CHANG: Patrick George says the truck also suffered a string of recalls and manufacturing issues. And he pointed out the Cybertruck's unique image problem as it became tied to Elon Musk's shift into right-wing politics.
GEORGE: In the end, it seems like the Cybertruck's cause of death was insufficient demand. You know, the - it just had not been selling very well.
KELLY: Cody and Michelle Abner (ph), outside Fort Worth, Texas, already own one Cybertruck. They reacted to the news this way.
CODY ABNER: I told Michelle, I said, hey, I have another reservation number. Should I get another order?
MICHELLE ABNER: I said, now we have a collector's item. I mean, I still think that it looks like a dumpster, but on the flip side, we like to be different. You drive around in a green Cybertruck, people remember you.
KELLY: A dumpster - well, people will likely remember the Cybertruck, love it or hate it.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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