Tesla's takedown protests have produced one big loser – and his name is Elon Musk

Independent

02-04-2025

Tesla owners, workers and investors are getting used to it by now. Even so, last Saturday 29 March 2025 is a day they would rather forget. Dubbed Tesla Takedown's Global Day of Action, rallies took place in front of hundreds of showrooms worldwide.
Billed as the biggest demonstration so far against the electric car brand and specifically its CEO, Elon Musk, the protests began soon after Donald Trump 's inauguration and the confirmation of Musk's appointment to reduce US federal government inefficiency and expenditure. Four months in and new figures show that Tesla delivered 13 per cent fewer cars in the first quarter of this year with many commentators pointing to the growing backlash to Elon Musk.
There were rumblings of discontent before, as those liberal eco-minded folks who had rushed to buy his ground-breaking car found themselves witnessing the developing bromance between Trump and the world's richest man.
They didn't sign up to someone with an avowed opposition to renewable energy naming their hero, for that's what Musk was to many of them back then, as 'first buddy'. Yet there they were, right-wing president and trusted lieutenant, side by side, sharing platforms and photo opportunities together, literally presented as brothers in arms. Further affirmation of his politics not being theirs came with Musk facing accusations that he gave two Nazi-style salutes.
Since then, they've had to stomach a surreal joint press conference from the Oval Office, complete with one of Musk's numerous children cavorting around. Since then, as well, they've had to see brutal castigations and firings of thousands of public servants and wholesale departmental closures and stand downs, not least of the one that does its bit to distribute America's wealth to the world's poor.
They have had to wear a collapse in resale prices. Those smartly designed, ultra-high tech and oh so climate friendly, saloons they so proudly bought and drove are now worth a fraction of what they paid. Meanwhile, new sales have crashed and the company stock is off 35 per cent. Investors are fuming. Musk himself is not immune, suffering a 25 per cent fall in his net worth.
Seemingly, he remains uncowed. Stop, say the campaigners, and they will stop. Tesla Takedown promises to 'protest Tesla for as long as Elon Musk continues to shred public services'.
His fossil fuel-loving pal has come to his assistance. Trump has displayed Teslas on the White House drive and been pictured behind the wheel, exclaiming 'Wow… everything's computer' and promising to buy one. The president lambasted the anti-Tesla demonstrations and said he would designate any attacks on the dealerships as domestic terrorism.
Musk's opponents are as equally undeterred as he is determined to purge what he claims is governmental waste. Violence against Tesla showrooms has not died away, quite the reverse, with the hurling of petrol bombs, firing of gunshots and spraying of graffiti. The FBI has been forced to mount a taskforce to pursue the 'domestic terrorists' with one arrest made so far.
Tesla Takedown says it is not responsible for these attacks. 'We are a non-violent grassroots protest movement. We oppose violence and destruction of property. Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism.' That movement has resulted in the production of car bumper stickers proclaiming, 'I bought this before Elon went crazy' and the swamping of social media, some of which of course belongs to Musk himself with memes and posts ridiculing and denouncing him. There have been placards declaring 'Diabolical Oligarchs Gaslighting Everyone'' a play on his body's title of Department of Government Efficiency and Tesla's new moniker of 'No Swastikars'.
On they proceed, both sides locked in intractable positions. There will be a loser and it's hard to see how it won't be Musk. For all his undoubted genius – not long ago he was enjoying universal acclaim for docking a returning space rocket as neatly as a car manoeuvring into a parking space – Musk's stance appears increasingly fragile. There is no escape, unless he severs his ties with Tesla completely (and he is the founder and biggest shareholder as well as the boss) which is unlikely or he quits Trump's government and the task he has been asked to do.
To date, he is betraying signs of denial, not letting up and at the same time reassuring worried Tesla staff, without supplying the evidence, that better times are coming.
Normally, consumer boycotts run out of steam and fail. Rarely do they last the distance. But this one bears the hallmarks of ultimate success. There is a common, identifiable, well-known human target; the Tesla marque and its forecourts are everywhere; the vehicle owners might be wedded to the car for what it does, but they are ever distant from its creator for what he is doing; there is no group that can take their place – the MAGA faithful are not the sorts to desire 'green' automobiles.
Then, there are those who can control Musk, that even he must listen to. He may have the biggest block of shares but add theirs together and they speak for more. At some point and after the weekend it may have edged closer, their undoubted frustration will turn to anger. It will be Tesla and a substantial slice of his fortune and therefore his power, or Trump. He cannot have both; one must go.
Possibly, he saw what would unfold when he took up the cudgels on Trump's behalf. In which case, he is on some sort of financial self-harming mission or he didn't and that much-vaunted brain of his let him down. For all his love of modernity a very old tale springs to mind, one with which, given his knowledge of space travel, he should be familiar. It's the story of Icarus.