Climate change protesters occupy Tesla showroom in Britain’s largest shopping centre as they slam Elon Musk for ‘ruthless exploitation and dangerous working conditions’
Dozens of climate change protesters have occupied the Tesla showroom at Westfield shopping centre in west London, targeting Elon Musk’s electric car brand.
Members of Climate Resistance stormed the White City store amid Tesla’s continuing sales slump.
Protesters unfurled a large blue banner reading “Abolish Billionaires” and chanted “hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go” for 25 minutes.
Around 20 demonstrators sat on the shop floor during the action.
The group claimed Musk “has built his empire through ruthless exploitation, union busting, and dangerous working conditions.”
Security guards formed a line in front of the protesters, who directed their shouts towards the abolition of the ultra-rich.
Footage showed one protester being carried out by security personnel while still holding his megaphone.
“We can’t have Elon Musk and people like him,” he shouted before his device was taken away.
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The protest comes as Tesla announced a sharp decline in sales in Britain and across Europe.
Figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association showed the brand suffered a 45.2 per cent drop across the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Area in January.
Tesla sold just 9,945 units in Europe last month, down from 18,161 units in January 2024.
This decline comes at a time when overall EV sales in Europe are booming.
The company faced a particularly tough market in Germany, selling just 1,277 new vehicles – the lowest figure since July 2021.
In France, sales plummeted by 63 per cent.
UK sales dropped by nearly eight per cent, despite EV sales overall surging by 42 per cent in Britain.
This poor performance comes against rising competition from legacy car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Renault.