Grassroots anger at Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to be growing, as he assumes increasingly unilateral authority over decisions to lay off tens of thousands of federal workers. Musk's support of far-right parties in Europe has also angered citizens of other countries.
For many weeks, protesters have been gathering outside Tesla dealerships in the U.S. to call for a boycott of the company.
On Saturday, hundreds of protests were held outside Tesla dealerships across the U.S. and in European countries, under the banner TeslaTakedown, calling for a worldwide boycott of the company's vehicles.
More than 350 people protested outside the dealership on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and smaller protests were held in other Michigan cities including Grand Rapids.
Large protests were also held in New York City, Buffalo, NY, St. Petersburg, FL, Austin, TX, Reno, NV, Seattle, WA, Maplewood, MN, and many other cities, and in Europe, large protests were held in Nottingham, England, Berlin, Germany, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Tesla building security watching overhead as protesters dance on the street during a #TeslaTakedown protest in Seattle pic.twitter.com/FGMexOAIit
— Lindsey Wasson 📸 (@lindseywasson) March 29, 2025
Musk's appointment by President Donald Trump as head of the new Department of Government Efficiency appears to be taking a significant toll on the performance of his company.
Tesla's stock price has dropped since the beginning of 2025; sales of Tesla vehicles have fallen by nearly half since the beginning of the year in Europe, and there are signs of sales declines in the U.S. as well. In addition, a long-time influential stock holder of the company recently called for Musk to step down as CEO of Tesla if he wished to continue working for the federal government as head of DOGE.
President Donald Trump has attempted to help Musk with his sales problems. On March 11th, Trump held a yard sale on the White House lawn of Tesla vehicles and purchased one, while urging his supporters to buy the company's products.
In a recent interview on Fox News, Musk seemed more concerned about the rising number of protests held outside his dealerships than those committing property crimes against his dealerships, and threatened those organizing the protests.
"They're being fed propaganda by the far-left, and they believe it," Musk said. "It’s really unfortunate. The real problem is not, like, you know, the crazy guy that firebombs a Tesla dealership. It’s the people pushing the propaganda that caused that guy to do it. Those are the real villains here, and we’re going to go after them. And the president has made it clear we’re going to go after them. The ones providing the money, the ones pushing the lies and propaganda, we’re going after them."
