From bumper stickers to boycotts, how Tesla owners are distancing themselves from Elon Musk
According to reports, many Tesla owners who were once proud to own the electric vehicle embarrassed to be associated with the brandAs a public fury against society and his CEO, the billionaire Elon Musk, he earns momentum.
Musk’s Influenza to the White House was linked to direct anger in Tesla, including Molotov cocktail thrown into a showroom in Las Vegas, dozens of Vandalized Tesla cars to Hamilton e protests through North America and Europe. Even the Vancouver International Auto Show, which started on Wednesday and lasts until Sunday, Removed the car manufacturer from this year’s eventciting security problems for participants and exhibitors.
Now some Tesla owners who are not even the fans of the owner of the company Grouping adhesives for anti-muscio bumpers OR boycott the brand completely getting rid of their vehicles.
Dissatisfied with the treatment of Canada by the President of the United States Donald Trump, John Suk, St. Catharines, in Ontario, has decided to sell his Tesla and buy a Hyundai, even if he claims to admire Musk’s innovations in the automotive industry and his work in the field of space and was hit by the Tesla charging network.
- This Sunday, Cross country control He asks: Whether you have a Tesla or not, what is your reaction to all the repercussions? THESing your comment Here And we could read it or call you back for our show.
“I have always loved the car. I had it for five years. But with Elon Musk who behaves as it is, … I cannot support the property of that company,” he added, adding that he believes that Musk is destroying the brand.
Suk said he is boycott everything American and will not travel to the United States right now. “I stopped doing it last year and I won’t go there until Trump disappeared.”
The anti-terrace feeling in Canada has gained traction only as people in different cities, including Ottawa and Vancouver, joined a wave of “Tesla Takedown” protests to express the displeasure with the role of Musk in sweeping cuts in the United States Federal Work Forces AND Cancellation of contracts relating to humanitarian programs.
“You cannot divorce personality from the commercial company and therefore, in general, the CEO tend to maintain a lower profile,” said Marvin Ryder, associate professor of marketing at the Degroote School of Business of the McMaster University in Hamilton.
“Mr. Musk in his world, just like Mr. Trump in his world, have decided to want the personality to exceed the brand,” he said. “So if I were on the Board of Directors of Tesla, if I am one of the owners of Tesla Stock, I’m not happy.”
Ryder added that he believes that Musk should take an absence permit from the company while pursuing his work with the Department of Efficiency of the Government (Doge), announced by Trump even before entering the office on January 20, with the promise to cut jobs and expenses.
“Leave the position of your CEO and divorce the company as you go to do it,” he said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to the CBC News commentary request.
A Montreal Tesla dealership has been vandalized and the Vancouver International Auto Show has removed the vehicles for its events for safety concerns while the backlash grows against Elon Musk and its influence in the White House.
‘No more a source of pride’
Don Flat says he is not a fan of Musk, but he really wanted to enter the electric car market. He found a Tesla Model 3 used 2024 and was convinced that, since it was used, he was actually not giving money to Musk.
“I bought my Tesla before Elon Musk became a crazy person,” he said, adding that he loves the car for his efficiency and quick recharging.
“Not yet a fan of Elon. He certainly purchased a winning company, however – at least it was,” said Flatt.
Fredericton’s resident, who recently retired as an publisher at the CBC, said that he thought that a magnet could be better than a sticker for bumpers, because when the current tension in the end disappears, he could remove it. But then he had the idea of creating anagrams from the Tesla logo.
Flatt is now planning to remove the logo on the back of the car and create an anagram that is written “steal” or “less”.
Others who like to drive the car tried to dissociate the brand from the owner, while continuing to hold back a Tesla.
“Five years ago, I considered Elon Musk an idol and I admired his entrepreneurial initiatives with Tesla and Spacex in particular,” said Paul Turnbull, from Ottawa.
“I was a proud buyer of a Tesla Model Y immediately after having become available for order in Canada in 2021. I still have and I like the car today, but it is no longer a source of pride as the current negative stigma against Elon was once given.”
Turnbull recently put a sticker on his car that reads: “I bought this before we knew that Elon was crazy”, perhaps getting some sympathy from the spectators and preventing his vehicle from being vandalized.
He said that if he was actively shopping at a car right now, Musk’s behavior would have influenced his decision. But with The Tesla retail market in DoldrumsHe said now it’s not the best time to sell.
Fallout for Tesla
Musk lost Several billion dollars of his personal wealth This year, while Tesla’s actions and the sales of its electric vehicles dive. The company that made Musk his luck is no longer the most precious resource in his wallet, Replaced by Spacex.
Trump said Musk and Tesla are treated unjustly e Musk told Fox News Tuesday: “Tesla is a peaceful company. We have never done anything harmful. I’ve never done anything harmful. I only did productive things.”
Tesla is no longer the largest activity of Elon Musk’s portfolio as the company’s price price continues to slip for a ninth consecutive week.
Musk’s unpopularity seems to have extended to Europe, with his support for far -right parties, including German Afdwhich came second in the general elections last month. Seems to have damaged Tesla’s sales on the continent, who were down 45 % in January A year earlier.
Motorists also exchanged a record number of Tesla vehicles this month, Data from the National Website for Edmunds Shopping shown. The exchanges of March so far would be the highest monthly actions that Edmunds has recorded Tesla exchanges towards new or used purchases at the dealers, if the trend continues.
David Tindall, professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said he suspects that the recourse against the electric car manufacturer is only the beginning of a wider movement against Trump.
“Tesla is a kind of low -content fruit in a mass protest that will engage against the entire administration,” he said.
Whether there is a return from the dispute for Musk and the company, Tindall said: “These are the two scenarios – that sales collect among Trump supporters or who sells Tesla”.
