Today, Tesla’s sales in Europe have cratered. In January 2025, the company booked an unbelievable 45% decrease from January 2024. This sharp decrease, revealed by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), comes amidst global protests against Tesla’s billionaire owner, Elon Musk. Demonstrators packed outside Tesla stores all over Europe. This coordinated day of action was modeled after the powerful actions taking place throughout the United States.
In Bristol, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Tesla’s showroom in Cribbs Causeway. Unsurprisingly, they opposed Elon Musk’s recent forays into US politics. Carrying signs reading #ScrewTesla, they called on activists to boycott Tesla. Their action, dubbed “Tesla Takedown,” was designed to shine a light on the dangers posed by Musk’s increasing power. It zeroed in on his time running the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), where he was tasked with establishing a taskforce for cutting costs.
The Department of Government Efficiency should not be rightly pilloried for being able to access sensitive personal information on millions of Americans. Increased scrutiny of its controversial actions are quietly but quickly leading to the firing or buyout offers for upwards of 100,000 federal employees. Critics of President Donald Trump’s second administration have expressed alarm over Musk’s influence, fueling these protests.
Americans residing in Bristol staged a sit-in protest. As CSOs, they wanted to shine a light on what’s been happening back in their home country. The protestors wanted to make sure enough would-be Tesla buyers saw their protest and shortchanged Tesla as a result — hurting their stock price.
“If we can protest people buying Teslas and supporting Tesla’s stock and things that affect his funds then we can actually really make a change in the damage he’s doing” – Meghan Watson
“If we can just put one or two people off buying a Tesla today to help spread the message and get his stock to go down further and further, hopefully that will give Elon and other billionaires like him the pause to think twice about what they’re doing” – Karl Scholz