Tesla protests UK: Two protests planned this weekend at dealerships in London and Manchester as part of 'Tesla Takedown' against Elon Musk's cars

Two protests at dealerships in London and Manchester are planned for today (Saturday 15 March) as part of a series of “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations that have become frequent sights in the US. The protests are urging people to boycott the company and sell their Teslas.

Tesla Takedown’s website lists the two protests in London and Manchester as scheduled for today alongside demonstrations in Iceland, the Netherlands and Finland. Two previous protests in London were sparsely attended.

Protesters today have gathered outside a Tesla dealership in London. A small group of demonstrators at the Tesla centre in Park Royal, west London, held up banners that read “Honk if you hate Tesla” and “Enough fascist nonsense”. The Tesla dealership carried on operating as normal on Saturday, with staff appearing oblivious to the protest.

The website says it is “tanking Tesla’s stock price to stop Musk” and claims the billionaire is “destroying democracy”. On Wednesday, two Just Stop Oil supporters separately poured liquid latex over a Tesla Optimus robot at a Tesla store in Westfield, White City, west London.

The protests were partly organised by Alex Winter, an actor and film-maker best known for appearing alongside Keanu Reeves as Bill Preston in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Tesla has suffered from several criminal attacks recently. This includes several charging stations being set alight in Boston, a suspected arson attack on a dealership in France, and shots being fired at a dealership in Oregon.

Tesla’s share price fell below it’s pre-election price for the first time this week amid widespread market chaos and growing concerns about how sales will be affected by Mr Musk’s politics. Tesla sales have fallen in many key markets. They rose in the UK in February, although at a slower rate than the wider electric car market.