Police in the North are investigating damage to around 20 cars at a Tesla dealership in Belfast. Most of the vehicles had their wing mirrors broken, with others having their windows smashed and some sustaining dents to bodywork. It follows the targeting of Tesla sites by protesters around the world following CEO Elon Musk’s appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency in President Donald Trump’s administration.
The PSNI received a report about the incident on Sunday at the dealership in the Boucher Road area of South Belfast. In a statement on Monday, police said:
“The damage is believed to have occurred at some point in the last 24 hours.
“Approximately 20 vehicles have been targeted. Most have had their wing mirrors knocked off, while others have also had windows smashed or received dents to the bodywork.
“Inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.”
There have been calls for Elon Musk to comment on the incident. One local man, William Conville, taking to X, spoke of boycotts of the company, suggesting it was “convenient timing” that the vandalism had taken place in Belfast.
“I spoke with Tesla workers and local shop owners off camera and they are bemused that no political party has made a comment,” he said, posting a video from the showroom.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump’s support for billionaire Elon Musk’s company led to a sales-boost of the cars in Maga-backing parts of America, but boycotts by left-wing opponents. While combined Tesla sales in the 31 US states that voted for President Trump rose at the end of 2024, the Telegraph reported, while sales fell in states that supported Trump’s Democrat rival, Kamala Harris.
As the carmaker’s shares plunged by 15 per cent, Mr Trump hit out at “radical Left lunatics” who he accused of “trying to illegally and collusively boycott” the business after one of its worst days on record.
Elon Musk has been subject to a backlash, after he emerged as a staunch ally of Trump in the past year, securing a place in the new US administration.
The Tesla brand, which was once championed by progressives and environmentalists as a way to battle climate change, is increasingly being rejected by liberal drivers in recent months due to Mr Musk’s increasingly prominent role in the Trump administration, and his support for other right-wing leaders, including the Alternative for Germany.
Musk, who has also signalled his support for Reform UK, has led to a storm of criticism from European leaders, and has put a wedge between Tesla and its traditional left-leaning buyers.
In the US, dozens of vandalism incidents have hit Tesla dealerships, cars and the electric vehicle maker’s charging stations across the country since Trump took office. Many bear explicit messages protesting against CEO Musk, who has made it his mission to overhaul the US Federal Government. Thousands of people have also attended protests at Tesla showrooms in towns and cities across the United States, with protests spilling across the Atlantic to the UK and Germany.
Last week, in Germany, several Tesla vehicles were set on fire, with German police confirming that four vehicles were set ablaze in the Plänterwald and Steglitz neighborhoods of Berlin, adding that political motives could not be ruled out.
A fortnight ago in France, a Tesla showroom was torched in an attack, with around €650,000 worth of cars destroyed. 12 cars were set ablaze in the fire at the dealership in Plaisance-du-Touch, near Toulouse, according to the local prosecutor’s office.