Tesla Kills Model S And Model X In What Elon Musk Calls 'An Honorable Discharge' So The Factory Can Make Optimus Robots
Daniel Golson
Wed, January 28, 2026 at 6:48 PM EST
3 min read
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Everything is going great over at Tesla. Wait, sorry, no. Everything is going bad over at Tesla. The automaker held its quarterly earnings call on Thursday, announcing that fourth-quarter profits were down by 61% year-over-year, and annual profit cratered by 46% in 2025. Beyond posting its lowest profits in years, Tesla's revenue from car sales was down 11% year-over-year, and it was the second year in a row that sales declined.
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It gets worse. As reported by TechCrunch, on the call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla is killing off the Model S sedan and Model X SUV. This isn't exactly a surprise, as the two EVs are Tesla's oldest models, with the Model S launching in 2012 and the Model X following three years later. It's been years since either have been strong sellers; while Tesla no longer breaks out their sales, in 2025 it delivered 50,850 units of the Cybertruck, Model S and Model X combined (a 40.2% decrease compared to 2024), with the latter two likely making up 30,000 of those. Honestly, this should've happened a long time ago, ideally followed by next-generation versions of both, but that was never gonna happen. Instead, Tesla gave both models a couple of enshittifying facelifts over the past few years, the most recent of which came just a few months ago.
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Sure, Jan
"It's time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge, because we're really moving into a future that is based on autonomy," Musk said on the call, "so if you're interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it." The last units of both cars will be built at some point next quarter. Musk said their discontinuation "is slightly sad." Boo hoo. He added that Tesla will support Model S and Model X owners "for as long as people have the vehicles," whatever that means.
Taking their place on the assembly lines of Tesla's Fremont, California, factory will allegedly be the Optimus robot. As The Verge reports, Musk said the "mass production" version of the Optimus will be shown later this quarter, and the first one will allegedly be built before the end of the year. We've heard how those promises usually turn out. Previously, Musk has said he aims for Tesla to build a million of them per year. Uh huh. He's also focused on getting the Tesla Cybercab out. We're not holding our breath for that one, either.
Putting everything else Tesla and Elon-related aside, it is a shame to see the Model S get snuffed out like this. It did revolutionize the car industry, and while newer versions have been suckier, the early years of the Model S were truly great. Too bad their creator is focused on making the automotive world, and the world as a whole, a worse place.
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