Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will wind down production of its Cybertruck, marking the end of a failed effort to take a chunk of the lucrative market for pickups in the US.

The billionaire chief executive said production of the car would stop in about the middle of next year at the company’s factory in Texas in order to use the plant for the Cybercab, its self-driving taxi.

Musk did not say whether Tesla had plans to produce the vehicle in another factory, although that would probably require significant investment for the specialised tooling needed to make it.

Musk has pinned hopes for Tesla on robotics, artificial intelligence and an autonomous driving fleet rather than following the traditional carmakers’ approach of developing a steady stream of new models to entice private buyers.

It caps a tricky week for the world’s richest person, after Republican candidates he had backed with $446m (£332m) in donations lost in the US midterm elections.…