Tesla Takedown in Pōneke

Serah Allison

18 April 2025

On the morning of Wednesday 9th April 2025, a modest crowd of around 30 people gathered in an industrial zone on the outskirts of Pōneke Wellington. On a footpath outside a Tesla showroom, the crowd held a ‘Tesla Takedown’ rally, one of many such-named protests happening globally. The rally, called by the Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition (PAFC), featured prepared speeches from the Coalition Against Climate Change, the International Socialist Organisation, PAFC, and Peace Action Wellington. They spoke to the fascist and far Right ideologies pushed and supported by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his allies; to the people-power that can fight back fascist, far Right and other capitalist forces, as evidenced by hīkoi which have marched past that very site; to the pseudo-environmentalism Tesla relies upon to market its luxury cars to line Musk’s pockets; and to the ways in which this protest could by effective by making Tesla a pariah brand.

The crowd waved placards such as “Wake up and smell the fascism”, “No to the Swasticar”, and “Solidarity with USA protestors”. Chants included “We don’t want your Nazi cars – take a one-way trip to Mars!” and “Fuck off fascists, fuck off Musk. We want community love and trust!” The crowd was in good spirits, despite the cool morning and police on the periphery who numbered almost half as many as the protesters, as rush-hour traffic tooted horns in support. The rally was held under the kaupapa of Te Kahu o te Raukura, the cloak of peace laid down by Mana Whenua in early 2022 following the infamous far Right Covid-conspiracism disruptions. In other words, the protest was explicitly non-violent and non-destructive out of respect to the previously-expressed wishes of local indigenous people.

While the rally itself was small, the protesters’ placards were displayed to approximately three thousand passing vehicles in the rush-hour traffic. The protest was positively reported by popular news website Stuff, and although the number of people reached by that reporting is unknown it would likely be significant. Additionally, the rally had been advertised with 800 flyers handed out to attendees of local street carnival Cuba Dupa on 29th March, which coincided with a ‘global day of action’ for such Tesla events. In total, then, this small rally reached a large number of people with the message that fascism and far Right authoritarianism cannot hide and will be resisted.

Forbes last year listed Tesla as only the 58th largest company in the world, considering combined metrics of sales, profits, assets and market value. Tesla’s 2024 profit was less than $14B – dwarfed by the likes of Saudi Aramco, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet. So why is there a Tesla Takedown movement, and why would socialists consider it worth being involved? There are several reasons.

Challenging capitalists whenever the opportunity arises. The current sentiment against Tesla, and the potential for us to usefully contribute to extending that sentiment further, offers socialists the opportunity to attack a large capitalist entity. If, in the extreme, this movement were to result in bankrupting Tesla, this wouldn’t actually significantly undermine the capitalist system since corporations routinely come and go through cut-throat competition between capitalists anyway. But it would send a signal to capitalists that the people are re-learning the power we hold – the power to rally against them, the power to impede and even to halt production. And the flip-side of that is that as we all realise this power we would be bolstered in confidence and capability and be encouraged in continuing the fight against the system as a whole.
Fighting fascists, authoritarians and the far Right everywhere. Since capitalism is so prevalent it can tend to feel like the norm, the status quo, the default, or the only option for humankind. This sense can lead to complacency, resignation, and exhaustion. But extreme displays of far Right reaction and authoritarianism can motivate resistance. This is especially true of fascism, the brutal anti-worker militant boot of capitalism, which is such an escalation from that ‘norm’ and such an immediate threat to our very lives that it has significant potential to motivate those who have until now opted out of struggle. And so by identifying and fighting extreme Right ideologies and movements, we can both fight back this threat and also actually build the strength of our own side. As an ideology, fascism and other far Right ideologies have the potential to spread across borders at a much faster rate than those who maintain those borders allow people to move. In the early twentieth century, fascism spread quickly through Italy, Germany, and Spain, and there was a significant fascist movement in the USA until it became fashionable to be anti-fascist as the USA opted into World War II. Nowadays, we can see a similar ideological spread from groups such as the Atlas Network, France’s Rassemblement National, Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland, and now the USA’s Trump administration assisted by Musk. We see New Zealand politicians also flirting with far Right ideologies. For example Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters returned from the USA and began talking of returning New Zealand to its ‘former glory’ by increasing police numbers and waging a ‘war on woke’. We must beat back fascism and far Right ideologies anywhere and everywhere they manifest.
Solidarity. Protesters in the USA are turning out because Musk is playing a significant role in their government. It’s worth noting that protest in general in the USA is a significantly more risky endeavour than it is in Aotearoa New Zealand – police in the USA are in general more brutal, the government less tolerant, and fascist militia groups and individuals more prevalent and bold. So Tesla Takedown protesters in the USA are taking significant personal risks to take their stand against the far Right, fascism, and authoritarianism, and we have a duty to make a stand in demonstration of solidarity with them. Such a stand achieves more than simply satisfying duty, however. Nurturing a sense of international solidarity is critical for winning our fight, both in terms of boosting morale and sharing ideas in the present, and in terms of having any hope of international revolution in the future.

All of the previous are grand statements and of course realistically it’s likely that long before Tesla is actually bankrupted by boycott alone its investors would force a change of leadership sufficient to calm the current sentiment. But the reasons to rally nonetheless remain, and we should advance the struggle – we ARE advancing the struggle – as much as we can through opportunities such as supporting the Tesla Takedown. Ka whawhai tonu mātou: āke, āke, āke! The struggle continues, comrades.