Tesla Faces Biggest Protest Yet on March 29

Thousands of people are expected to gather at more than 500 showrooms, service centers and other locations on Saturday March 29 as part of “Tesla Takedown,” a loosely organized movement aimed at protesting CEO Elon Musk’s political shift to the extreme right, as well as his role heading the Trump administration’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency. The question is whether there will be any of the sort of violence that has occurred at other protests in recent weeks. Headlight.News has more.

Protesters have become an increasingly common site at Tesla showrooms around the world over the past two months since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, but a loosely knit group calling itself “Tesla Takedown” plans its biggest move yet this coming Saturday, with protests scheduled at more than 500 Tesla locations worldwide.

But there’s been pushback, especially as some of the rallies have become violent and some stores – as well as privately owned Tesla vehicles – have become targets of vandalism. Las Vegas police reported Thursday they had arrested a suspect in the firebombing of five vehicles at a Tesla sales facility there last week.

“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this month He went further, suggesting those found guilty serve time in El Salvador’s notorious prisons, rather than in the U.S.

Musk in the middle

For a number of years, Elon Musk was considered a darling of the political Left, as well as the environmental movement, celebrated for making EVs more than niche products and for forcing mainstream manufacturers to begin electrifying their own product lines.

That all began to change during the run-up to Musk’s October 2022 takeover of Twitter, the social media giant he subsequently renamed X, while shifting its focus to more conservative politics. His decision to allow far right extremists, including some neo-Nazis, to return to the service – along with his own seeming approval of some of their posts – triggered an advertiser pullout and an exodus of more liberal uses.

But things went further when Musk signed on with the Trump campaign, eventually donating more than $270 million to help get him reelected. Since Trump’s inauguration, Musk has served as the head of DOGE, the newly created department that has been responsible for billions in cost-cutting and massive firings at the federal level.

Backlash

That’s triggered a massive backlash. Tesla sales had already begun to slip last year after a decade of growth. But potential customers have begun boycotting, especially in California, the liberal center of EV sales in the U.S. Preliminary registration data suggest first quarter sales across the country will be down by double-digits.

Things haven’t been limited to the States, however — especially after Musk began wading into European politics, among other things throwing support behind the AfD, the alt-right German party associated with the country’s neo-Nazi movement. That country has recorded a 76% drop in Tesla sales so far this year, with Europe down about 50% overall. And with demand off 59% in the huge Chinese market, JPMorgan analysts last week dropped their earlier forecast for global Q1 sales by 20% to 355,000.

The Tesla Takedown movement aims to convince even more buyers to shop elsewhere – and they have more opportunity than ever, with competing brands like Chevrolet, BMW, Toyota and Hyundai rolling out scores of EVs of their own over the last several years.

Many Tesla owners, meanwhile, have begun dumping their vehicles. Edmunds.com reports that a year ago, used Teslas made up just 0.4% of the total number of vehicles being traded in at U.S. dealers. That surged to 1.4% during the first half of March and Edmunds expects that to rise during the second half. This wave has sharply driven down the price of used Teslas which, Edmunds said, are commanding an average $10,000 less on trade-in than comparable EVs. They previously had higher residuals.

The backlash against Musk, the slump in Tesla demand, the rise in competition and, ironically, some of the anti-EV policies of the Trump administration, have worried traditionally bullish investors. Tesla stock traded on the NASDAQ under the TSLA sticker has fallen sharply from their post-election high of more than $488 a share, It is set to finish up its ninth consecutive week of losses, shares off nearly 5% at noon on Wall Street

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Musk, Trump fight back

“Tesla just makes electric cars and does nothing to deserve these evil attacks,” Musk wrote on X in response to reports of vandalism. That includes an incident in France where a dozen EVs were torched by an arsonist. There have been firebombings and shootings in Nevada and at Tesla facilities in the Pacific Northwest – though such incidents have been timed in off-hours and no one has been injured.

Meanwhile, Tesla vehicles, especially Cybertrucks, have been defaced, with protestors scratching or painting bodies, often with Nazi swastikas that, protestors contend, were inspired by Musk’s use of a Nazi-style salute during a Trump inauguration event.

There have been several arrests, including one involving 36-year-old Paul Kim, police alleging he shot at vehicles at a Las Vegas Tesla store, and tossed firebombs at them.

The Trump administration has come down hard on Musk’s behalf, U.S. Attorney General am Bondi calling the attacks, “domestic terrorism.” Trump, for his part, has tried to make them seem wors than the 2020 assault on Congress by his supporters, saying last week that  “Nobody was killed on January 6, but what’s happening to Elon Musk and Tesla is a disgrace.”

That generated further backlash, however, from those who labeled as hypocrisy Trump’s decision to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists.

Meanwhile, Bondi, Trump and Musk have been silent about an incident in Florida last weekend that saw a man drive his car at a group of anti-Musk protestors outside a Tesla store in West Palm Beach.

Democrats weigh in

Not surprisingly, a number of new polls find Musk’s perception by the American public varies widely by party. A CNN poll this week found Musk’s support is “falling through the floor,” with his net favorability rating deep in negative territory. Significantly, that included both Democrats and Independents, though he still enjoys overwhelming support among Republicans. A new NBC News poll found 51% of the public viewed Musk negatively, only 39% positively – the latter group almost entirely consisting of Republicans.

Significantly, even some of Tesla – and Musk’s – strongest supporters on Wall Street are beginning to grow weary. As Headlight.News previously reported, Dan Ives, the managing director at securities firm Wedbush, said Tesla has reached “a moment of truth.” It requires Musk to decide whether to work for Tesla or continue his work as head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. For his part, Ross Gerber, head of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, suggested that moment has now come and gone. “I think Tesla needs a new CEO and I decided today I was going to start saying it.”

For their part, Democrats have recognized the opportunity to take advantage of Musk as an icon of what they sense as growing opposition to the policies of the Trump administration. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly has called on Tesla owners to sell their vehicles. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz – the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee – called on stockholders to sell off their shares. And Texas Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett said this week she hopes to see Musk “taken down” on March 29, which also happens to be her birthday.