Are the Tesla Protests Demonstrating a Changing of the Technological Guard?
Politics is never going to be a non-divisive topic. It is also one that doesn’t tend to cross over with the world of technology all that often, save for the fact that the people in charge can often decide how much money gets to flow into the technology industry.
When Elon Musk took on a role in the White House, however, the line between tech and politics blurred significantly, leading many people to decide to launch protests against his car company, Tesla.
The question is, are the protests a sign of a bigger issue for the US?
Why People are Protesting
The appointment of Elon Musk to the Department of Government Efficiency has resulted in the billionaire and Tesla owner being thrust into the limelight. This has already seen a few difficult moments for the South African businessman transpire, such as when he appeared to do a Nazi salute during Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
The feeling from many is that Musk is ‘destroying democracy’, using the fortune that he made through Tesla to allow him to do it. As a result, there has been a ‘Tesla Takedown’ movement launched around the world.
@waffles_mcgrawl1 #duet with @Brooke Pierce #teslatakedown ♬ The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott-Heron
The movement is asking people to sell their Teslas, as well as get rid of any stock that they might hold in the company, and to join picket lines that have been set up at Tesla showrooms around the world. In some instances, such protests have also turned violent, and that has led the United States Attorney General to announce that people caught vandalising the cars could face as long as 20 years in prison.
Those behind the movement have said that they ‘oppose violence, vandalism, and destruction of property’, however.
Tesla Chicago. Every major city that has a Tesla dealership is seeing things like this. It’s terrible for the brand.
— Krassensteins (@krassenstein.bsky.social) 22 March 2025 at 19:09
The decision of the DOGE to eliminate programs that offer humanitarian aid, sack tens of thousands of government employees, and generally get involved in all of the various areas of life that people might consider to be there to help others has resulted in a backlash against Musk and his technology-driven cars.
It has sent the company’s stock into a rollercoaster, resulting in the White House being used as something akin to a used car lot when numerous Teslas were parked in front of it, and the President seemed to act as chief salesperson.
Several Weeks of Protests
Whether Elon Musk likes it or not, the protests against his firm show no sign of abating. When protests took place outside as many as 90 Tesla showrooms on the 22nd of March 2025, that saw the fifth week of demonstrations as part of the Tesla Takedown.
It resulted in some members of the Tesla board getting rather concerned, feeling as though Musk would need to do something to change the situation from getting worse and their stock plummeting even further. Many believe he should leave the government and concentrate back on Tesla.
With local organisers getting behind the movement in dozens of US states, things are not good for the smart car manufacturer. The fact that the protests also appear to have spread to Europe means that the world’s richest person might not be able to ignore them for too much longer.
Although he told a meeting of employees that was broadcast on his platform that used to be called Twitter to ‘hang on’ to their stock, the following day saw shares in Tesla having dropped to $248.71 from a high of $479.86 in the middle of December, which is a 48% decline.
It’s Opening the Door for Other Smart Cars
There was a time when it seemed as though Tesla had the smart car industry all but sewn up. The all-electric cars were the main ones that anyone hoping to drive a decent distance on an electric battery would look to buy, but in the weeks since the Tesla Takedown has been occurring, it has seen the door opened up to other brands instead.
Of significant concern to the United States of America will be the fact that one of the companies that has been enjoying the biggest improvement in sales is the China-based BYD.
🇨🇳🇺🇸 BYD Sales Soar Past $100 Billion, Topping Tesla on Revenue
I saw two top-liked comments under this news:
• “What’s truly impressive is that BYD achieved this without even entering the U.S. market!”
• “The U.S. will probably label BYD a national security threat next. 😂”… pic.twitter.com/snZVsyVL8Q— 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 (@OopsGuess) March 24, 2025
The main reason why it will be a concern is that BYD has been able to achieve it without even entering the US market. It means that the United States may no longer be considered the technology-driven powerhouse that it once was, instead falling behind one of the country’s main rivals on the global stage.
BYD had delivered 4.27 million cars in 2024, which compares favourably to the 1.79 million that Tesla had delivered. The Chinese car firm has become an ‘industry leader’ in ‘every sector’, which will have US-based companies more than a little concerned.