Dozens of climate change protesters occupied the Tesla showroom in Westfield shopping centre on Saturday in the latest misfortune to hit Elon Musk and his electric car firm, which has seen a continuing slump in sales since the new year.

Members of Climate Resistance targeted Musk’s brand amid claims President Donald Trump’s ally ‘has built his empire through ruthless exploitation, union busting, and dangerous working conditions.’

In a statement posted to X, they added that his company’s reliance on ‘cobalt from Congo keeps fueling instability in the region that has resulted in the death and displacement of thousands.’

Protesters on the floor directly above the store in White City, West London, unfurled a large blue banner with the words ‘Abolish Billionaires’ written in capital letters.

Meanwhile around 20 protesters stormed into the shop and sat on the ground as they chanted ‘hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go’ for 25 minutes.

A line of security guards arrived at the scene and stood in front of the protesters, who also directed their shouts towards the abolition of the ultra-rich.

In a separate post on X, the group explained: ‘The super-rich profit from poverty, torch the planet, and rig the system in their favour — it’s time to tax them out of existence and use that wealth to fund climate action.’

Footage also showed the moment one of the protesters was carried out of the centre by a group of security personnel by his arms and legs while still holding his megaphone. 

Footage showed the moment one of the protesters was carried out of the centre by a group of security personnel by his arms and legs while still holding his megaphone

Members of Climate Resistance targeted Musk’s brand amid claims President Donald Trump’s ally ‘has built his empire through ruthless exploitation’

‘We can’t have Elon Musk and people like him,’ he shouted, before a guard took away the device.

He continued: ‘We are worth more than this. How can the people sit by and do nothing when we are having everything taken away from us?’

MailOnline has contacted Met Police for comment. 

The protest comes as Tesla announced a sharp decline in sales in Britain and across Europe, with consumers seemingly turning away from the electric car firm at the same time as its CEO has been accused of political meddling on the continent.

Figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed that the brand saw a 45.2 per cent drop across the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Area in January.

According to the ACEA, Tesla only sold 9,945 units in Europe last month, a sharp decline from 18,161 units in January 2024, at a time when overall EV sales in Europe are booming.

The company faced a particularly tough market in Germany, where it sold just 1,277 new vehicles – the lowest figure since July 2021.

In France, sales plummeted by 63 per cent, while in the UK they dropped by nearly 8 per cent – despite EV sales overall surging by 42 per cent.

Protesters on the floor directly above the store in White City, West London, unfurled a large blue banner with the words ‘Abolish Billionaires’ written in capital letters

Musk, an outspoken ally of US President Donald Trump, has in recent weeks taken his political activism to Europe, promoting far-right groups and criticising Sir Keir Starmer and other leaders. 

His interventions have had a mixed reception, with supporters of the radical right-wing AfD in Germany cheering him at a rally before their party surged ahead in the polls, while others have accused him of interference in European politics.

He has repeatedly voiced his support for hard-right policies, using his platform X to tout the slogan ‘Make Europe Great Again,’ echoing Trump’s famous MAGA tagline in the US.

But recent YouGov polls showed Musk is highly unpopular in both the UK and Germany – with 71 per cent of respondents in both countries saying they take a negative view of the tech tycoon.

There has been a marked increase in his unpopularity since Musk’s recent intervention on child grooming gangs in the UK, the pollster added.

Last month, Musk caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew comparisons to a Nazi salute during Trump’s inauguration festivities. Musk denied this at the time. 

On Tuesday, campaigners in London plastered a mock-up Tesla advert on to a bus stop, depicting Musk in one of the cars while performing the contentious greeting.

Referencing the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany, the text on the satirical advert read ‘from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds’ and labelled the e-car a ‘Tesla Swasticar’.

Campaigners in London yesterday plastered a mock-up Tesla advert on to a bus stop, depicting Musk in one of the cars while performing the contentious gesture

Left-wing activists beamed a massive image of Elon Musk’s infamous raised-arm salute and the word ‘Heil’ onto Tesla’s Berlin factory last month 

The drop in Tesla sales in January came shortly before Tesla’s launch of its new model 

‘Elon Musk just helped the far-right in [Germany] win their best result since WW2 then called them to say congrats. So don’t buy his f***ing cars, yeah?’ the activists wrote on their TikTok page.

Meanwhile a growing number of Tesla owners have been using bumper stickers to disassociate themselves from Musk as his alliance with Trump has strengthened, according to reports.

Matthew Hiller, an Etsy vendor who sells the the ‘I Bought This Before We Knew Elon Was Crazy’ stickers, told the New York Times that he had experienced a surge in business since Musk started campaigning with the Republican last year.

While the political leanings of Tesla’s founder may be partly to blame for the drop in sales, other factors could also be at play. 

Tesla’s declining performance in Europe comes against a backdrop of rising competition in the EV sector from legacy car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Renault. 

The drop in Tesla sales in January also came shortly before Tesla’s launch of its new model in February. 

It is an update to the car firm’s best-selling model, the Model Y SUV, which was launched five years ago and was the world’s best-selling car of 2023.