It arrived like an alien spacecraft landing on our planet and shocked the world almost as much. It was meant to be Tesla's flagship model -- proof that an electric vehicle could disrupt the lucrative pickup truck market. Then it became, to many critics, a rolling symbol of the MAGA movement and Chief Executive Elon Musk's increasingly right-wing politics.

But in the end, few people bought the stainless-steel Cybertruck. And now its days are numbered.

Production will wind down next year, Musk said on X Friday. It is the latest indication of Tesla's shift away from selling traditional cars toward autonomous vehicles and robotics. Musk said the move will "make room" for increased production of its self-driving Cybercab at its Gigafactory in Texas.

It is an unceremonious ending for a vehicle that once drove palpable hype for Tesla.

The pickup was once meant to showcase Tesla's newest EV technologies, while unlocking the highly profitable truck market. Musk told investors it would be Tesla's "best product ever."

When it debuted as a concept in late 2019, the Cybertruck was radical and polarizing -- a wild departure from the rest of the auto industry's often conservative and iterative truck offerings.

The Cybertruck ditched traditional boxy pickup design for sharp angles and a stainless-steel body, said to be inspired by the iconic DeLorean DMC-12, the flying car in 'Back to the Future.' Tesla's photos and promotional materials gave a hint of the Cybertruck roving around another planet, a clear nod to Musk's own spacefaring ambitions.

"What's the most badass, futuristic, armored personnel carrier that kicks the ass of any pickup truck? Basically, that's the goal," Musk told investors in 2020. "I think we will make about as many as we can sell for many years."

Musk said the entry-level rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck would start at $39,900. He claimed it could outperform a Porsche 911 and showed a video where it won a tug-of-war against a tethered Ford truck. The body was said to be bulletproof to a 9mm handgun, with "armored" window glass to boot.

But the Cybertruck never quite lived up to the hype.

The first crack in the Cybertruck's image was a literal one. At the debut event, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen tossed a metal ball at the window a bit too hard, accidentally shattering it.

The reservations poured in, but fans of the truck would have to wait a while. The truck's unique design and stainless-steel body made for a difficult and protracted production. A month before deliveries finally began, Musk conceded that Tesla "dug our own grave with Cybertruck."

Its brutalistic design was impossible to ignore, especially as Musk emerged as a dominant force in conservative politics and a key force in President Trump's efforts to downsize the federal government. The Cybertruck came to symbolize the transformation of Musk and the company he leads: from selling optimism about the future to making vehicles designed to shield owners from the outside world.

The Cybertruck's run also dovetailed with a broad decline in the EV segment in the U.S. as demand failed to materialize at a rate automakers once projected. That trend was accelerated by the end of EV tax credits in America -- ushered in, perhaps ironically, by Trump and a Republican-led Congress.

While some hardcore Tesla fans once predicted it could eclipse even Ford's top-selling F-150 truck, the Cybertruck never hit critical mass.

Tesla has sold just shy of 73,000 Cybertrucks since deliveries started in late 2023, according to data from Motor Intelligence. By comparison, Ford sold the same number of F-Series trucks in October alone. Cybertruck sales are down 22% so far this year.

Tesla found at least one big buyer of Cybertrucks: SpaceX. Last year, the Musk-run rocket company purchased $131 million of Cybertrucks -- at the full sticker price -- from Tesla for fleet use.

The end of the Cybertruck underscores Tesla's shift away from its core autos business to focus on autonomy and robotics. Musk last year canceled Tesla's Model S and Model X sedans. Once the Cybertruck is done, it will have only two human-driven cars remaining -- the Model 3 and Model Y -- though Tesla has said its long-delayed sports car, the Roadster, will go into production in 2028.

As Cybertruck fans mourned the truck on X, Musk offered reassurance, saying, "The Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time."