wHen Mike Schwede was first sitting on the Tesla Roadster 15 years ago, and he felt it was a glimpse into the future. By 2016 he is a proud owner of Tesla, enjoying the thumbs he has got from other drivers whining along European highways in an electric vehicle.
However, recently the sheen that I own Tesla has begun to fade. For years, the brand has been synonymous with Elon Musk and his attitude towards the climate crisis. Recently, Schwede has pledged to increase oil and gas production in the country after seeing Tesla CEO pour hundreds of millions of people into supporting Donald Trump.
“He was getting more and more strange,” said Switzerland-based entrepreneur and digital strategist Schwede. The final straw came when Musk gave a back-to-back fascist-style salute during Trump's inauguration in January. “I was just disgusting at all,” Schwede said. “And I wasn't having fun sitting at Tesla anymore.”
On Tuesday, data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed sales of new Tesla cars, nearly half in Europe last month. The figures evaluated a major factor in analysts leaving behind scramble and customers turning their backs on the brand for Musk's advance into far-right politics.
The Texas-based automaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from 18,161 last year, the association said.
Now there are signs that existing Tesla owners who are unhappy with Musk's views are hearing their rage.
Schwede was thinking of selling his car, but after stacking over 60,000 miles on top of it, there was little value left. So he came up with his own means to regain his Tesla and the liberal spirit that underpinned his purchases. He began donating ten cents for every kilometre driven to various charities, supporting LGBTQ+ young people and directly supporting those fighting hatred and extremism to counter the support of the far right of the mask. did. “That was something Elon didn't like,” he said. “That's my personal revenge.”
It is a hint of how some European Tesla owners are fighting back, and Musk uses his wealth to secure his return to the White House and his vast influence Using the Musks are resisting towards world politics, their own – albeit on a small scale, their own – resistance to far-right and anti-established parties across Europe.
For German Patrick Schneider, a turning point came when he was plagued by strangers at a gas station that he called a Trump supporter. Addled on a long-term lease of the vehicle, he scrambled to find a way to deal with his relationship with the sour brand in his mind.
“Of course, as a Tesla driver, you've always been a fool. Green Party voters, the world savior, the CO2 guy,” Schneider told Capital.de media in Germany. “But now you're in a category that's no longer interesting.”
What he came up with was the “anti-Eron sticker” line of Tesla cars. At the Echo of the American Initiative, he began selling stickers online six months ago, ordering messages ranging from “Buying this before Elon went crazy” to “Elon Sucks.”
As Musk walked deep into German politics, he hosted the far-right AFD co-leader Alice Weidel in an interview on X's X, and at AFD rallies he lightly paraded multiculturalism, saying, “The guilt of the past.” denounced the country's focus. The stickers have skyrocketed.
Demand is currently rising to up to 2,000 stickers a day, with orders being placed in Australia and South Korea, not across the German-speaking world. It all took place without ads, Schneider said, adding, “Elon Musk is doing it for us.”
Others are looking for further action. In Poland, citizens will boycott Tesla after Musk's surprise appearance at AFD rally, as the Nazi German Aion Cup has led to the death of six million Poles, including three million Jews. I called out to. “All I can say is that perhaps a regular Paul shouldn't buy more Tesla,” Swamil Nitras recently told Polish broadcaster Tok FM. “We need a serious and strong response, including boycotting the consumer.”
August, German drugstore chain Rossmann I said that Although they will no longer buy Tesla cars for corporate fleets, citing Musk's support for Trump, German energy company Lichtbrick has announced that he will “pull plugs on the fleet's Tesla cars on social media ” he said Musk's “speaking the right populist support for populists and the extremist party.”
The message was recently echoed by a donkey-led campaign group by a UK-based campaign group after saying they had Projected image Musk salute to the facade of the Tesla Giga Factory near Berlin.
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“Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is promoting the far right in Europe,” the campaign group wrote on social media after a collaboration with the German political beauty centre. “Don't buy a Tesla.”
In London, activists parodied “Tesla – Swasticar” Bus stop ads The catchphrase refers to the beginning of World War II, “It will be 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds,” and the sticker with similar language is slap Tesla car. In Tottenham, north of London, the People velon campaign, a member of an activist group, took cardboard cutouts of mask salutes to Tesla dealers.
In Sweden, EV maker Polestar tried to take advantage of his complaints. “We get a lot of people who write that they don't like this all,” says the company's CEO, Michael Roscheller. He recently spoke to Bloomberg As he explained, he explained that he had directed sales staff to target disgruntled Tesla owners.
After the Dutch poll Proposed 31% of respondents who owned Teslas were considering selling them or have already done so it is not yet known whether it will affect the company. “2025 will be one of Tesla's biggest tests,” said Matthias Schmidt, a German-based auto analyst.
“In all respects, consumers tend to be like goldfish. They tend to forget things quickly,” Schmidt said. “But Germany could potentially be slightly different due to its history… His shift to him in favour of AFD could do much more harm than he would move back to Trump. It was sexual.”
Last year, Tesla saw sales in Germany Plunge 41% – surpassing the overall 27% decline in EVs nationwide – as rivals deployed their own electric vehicles and the government rolled back subsidies.
Early 2025 figures show That Tesla sales have been declining sharply in several European markets. Data announced by new car sales fell in several European markets in January. France fell by 63% a year ago and Germany fell by 59%. UK, Sweden and Norway registration It fell 12%, 44%, and 38%, respectively.
Buyers may be responding to Musk's comments, but other factors may also be active as consumers are waiting for Tesla's release PF from the updated Y model.
When contacted by the Guardian, Tesla did not reply to requests for comment. However, later last month, Musk appeared bright during a call with investors, suggesting that 2025 might be a tough year, but 2026 will be “magnificent” for the company.
“The mask is like a character with nine lives like a cat,” Schmidt said. “And he's pretty much used up the lives of those nine people, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens now.”
