With thousands gathered in protest at dealers around the world over the weekend, Tesla wrapped up what is expected to be a weak first quarter, the automaker watching sales dwindle as opposition grows to CEO Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration – as well as his increasingly vocal shift to the political far right. Headlight.News has the latest.
Opposition to Tesla – and Musk – has grown worldwide, Kia’s Norwegian subsidiary briefly running this ad.
From Manhattan to Melbourne, thousands of protestors gathered at hundreds of Tesla dealerships around the world over the weekend, marking the biggest pushback yet to the foray into conservative politics by the automaker’s CEO Elon Musk.
While there’s no easy way to discern just how much of an impact the backlash has had, industry analysts and data trackers expect to see a sharp slump in Tesla sales when the automaker releases it first-quarter numbers on Wednesday. That follows a roughly 1% decline for all of 2024, marking the first annual downturn for the EV manufacturer in more than a decade.
The sales slump has triggered a sharp downturn in Tesla stock, now off by a third since the beginning of the year and, as of Monday morning, by nearly half from its $488.54 post-election peak last December. That has led several key investors to raise the question of whether Musk should be replaced.
Tesla Takedown gathers momentum
Doreen Ratigan, (r) was one of the thousands of protesters targeting Tesla on March 29.
Protests at Tesla showrooms and other facilities have become a routine occurrence this year, but this past Saturday, March 29, saw the loosely knit movement, the self-described “Tesla Takedown,” pull together its largest series of rallies yet. It was spread out over hundreds of locations, including Orlanda, Florida, where retired educator Doreen Ratigan and her husband, joined the throng.
“I am electric car owner, so I am very supportive of EVs,” Ratigan said during a Monday morning telephone interview. “But I’m opposed to the things Elon Musk is doing. It rubs against everything in my heart.”
Ratigan held a sign saying, “Stay woke,” alongside a friend holding a placard that said “Cut DOGE,” a reference to Pres. Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficient run by Musk, “Not Soc(ial) Security, USAID, NOAA, Cancer Research.”
Plenty of other signs called on potential buyers to “Boycott Tesla,” and there are signs that message is gaining traction.
Backlash grows
Calls to boycott Tesla appear to be taking hold, based on falling sales.
While Tesla remains the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the global EV market, it was already beginning to lose traction before Musk purchased the former Twitter, renaming the social media site “X,” and using it to espouse a far-right political philosophy. While Tesla was once all but alone in the long-range EV segment, it now has scores of competitors worldwide, including familiar brands like General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Hyundai.
It also faces a growing number of new competitors, such as Lucid and Rivian in the U.S., and Geely and BYD in China. The latter brand is expected to surpass Tesla in both sales and revenues this year, according to industry forecasts.
But politics have exacerbated the challenges Tesla faces, especially since Musk’s acquisition of X and his subsequent involvement in Trump’s reelection campaign – into which he reportedly invested more than $270 million. And the pushback isn’t limited to the United States. Canadians have angrily responded to Musk’s comment that Canada “isn’t a real country,” while Germans were angered by the CEO’s support of the extreme-right party, AfD, during recent elections. It didn’t help when Musk was shown twice making a Hitler-style salute during an event celebrating Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The Tesla Takedown movement thus comes along at a time when the Texas-based automaker is particularly vulnerable. And it appears to be having the impact Musk’s opponents intend.
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Sales Plunge
Protests aren’t the only problem facing Tesla. It’s also got more competition from players like BYD.
Tesla sales fell 1.1% worldwide in 2024, the first annual decline in over a decade. The falloff has only accelerated this year. In Europe, demand was down by about half for the first two months of 2025, according to industry data. Signs are that they’ll be off at least 40% in China for the full quarter after a 50% drop in February, analysts forecast. Registration data show demand has taken a double-digit dip in the U.S. so far this year, and the numbers are off more than 20% in California, by far the country’s biggest EV market.
Worldwide, JPMorgan analysts have reduced their Q1 sales target by 20%, from an already weak 444,000 to 355,000. A survey by Visible Alpha of 15 analysts who track Tesla stock finds the consensus sales forecast at 373,000 deliveries.
And that still might be optimistic. “I think that the numbers are going to come in below 400,000 and, maybe as low as 350,000,” Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Globalt Investments, told Reuters.
Time for Musk to go?
“The moment of truth” has come for Tesla and Musk, said long-time bull Dan Ives, of Wedbush.
Prior to the Twitter takeover, Musk had a huge legion of “fanboys,” with websites and Reddit threads following his every move. He was hailed as a genius, and as an environmental hero who shook up the established auto industry. Today, however, many former fans are selling off their Teslas and joining protests at the company’s showrooms.
“We have seen major brand deterioration of Tesla across the entire world essentially,” said Ken Mahoney, CEO at Mahoney Asset Management, which owns Tesla stock. “The brand has become far more politicized than any public company’s brand should wish to be.”
There are still optimists betting Tesla will bounce back, but even some of the brand’s strongest bulls are growing weary and worried. Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities, earlier this month that Tesla and Musk have “reached the moment of truth,” with the CEO having to decide whether to continue with DOGE or return his focus to Tesla.
Ross Gerber, of Gerber Kawasaki, suggested that time has already passed, in a recent interview on CNBC. He said Musk needs to turn over the job of CEO to another executive, who could begin the job of rebuilding Tesla’s damaged reputation.
A gathering of the stupid.
A good rule is, if you are stupid (slow, low IQ, dim, … choose your favorite term), don’t talk much and tell the world.
What was that movie, Dumb and Dumber? We found Dumbest.
You’re apparently talking about Musk supporters?
Just watched yesterday’s SpaceX launch. A thought that entered my mind was the number of sickies out there who were hoping for a disaster so Elon would look bad because of the time he spends on DOGE.
If the right people (unbiased) wrote History/Bio books the shelves would be filled about this genius in our time. Modern day Galileo?
I recommend ‘Elon Musk’ by Walter Isaacson; great read.
Unlikely. Isaacson pointed out a lot of problems with Musk. Most of his “genius” works were done by others. Musk is not an engineer, nor scientist, nor astronomer.