Musk kills the Tesla Model S & X.

We were all wondering when the axe would fall on Tesla‘s oldest models; now we know. The last Tesla Model S or X will be produced by the end of the next quarter.

The real reason is obvious: they’re old, and sales are down. Down to around 50,000 for both models combined. Which is actually not that bad at all for such expensive cars. The Model S main competitor, the Lucid Air, was only able to move 4500 units last year. Including very aggressive lease deals at around $550 a month.

As you can see above, leasing the Tesla Model S is extremely expensive at around 3 times the amount Lucid is charging for the base model Air. The Model X is even more expensive.

The reason given by Elon Musk is, of course, a crazy one, and another lie. He claims the Optimus robot is almost ready for mass production,  “with a 1 million unit per year line of Optimus.” The whole Tesla Fremont plant is being converted to building these robots, which, of course, are probably far from being ready for production.

That statement also implies that Tesla could start moving away from producing cars. At least in Musk’s mind. Tesla’s profits were down by 46% in 2025, and it’s probably panic time for some at the company. Replacing big profit margin cars, still selling about 50,000 units a year, with robots that are actually far from production ready is pretty crazy. An infantile business decision from an out-of-touch billionaire.

Even when ready, it would take years for humanoid robots to sell in decent numbers. Hyundai, with its Boston Dynamics robots far more advanced than Optimus, is already facing union backlash. These will not easily replace factory workers anytime soon, even if they physically can.

Thinking the factory could soon produce a million robots a year just shows how far from the USS Reality Musk is.

I truly feel bad for the wonderful engineers and designers at Tesla. The people who brought the Model S and X to the market should truly be proud of their amazing work. As these two cars changed the automotive landscape forever, around the world.

These two cars truly deserved a second generation. What a shame…