Tesla faces call for boycott in Poland after Musk’s Germany remarks

WARSAW – A Polish government minister called for a boycott of Tesla vehicles after billionaire Elon Musk said there was “too much focus on past guilt” in an apparent reference to Germany’s wartime atrocities under the Nazis. 

The Tesla owner made a

surprise appearance via video link

at a political rally by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party on Jan 25. Mr Musk made the comments, a common refrain among right-wing groups concerning Germany’s World War II crimes, to supporters as part of his support for AfD ahead of the country’s Feb 23 election. 

“Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great-grandparents” Mr Musk told the audience.  

The comments drew swift criticism in Germany as Mr Musk’s support for the AfD’s anti-immigrant positions has grown. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the country’s biggest labour union slammed the billionaire’s actions. 

The comments over the weekend particularly touched a nerve in Poland as world leaders commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Some 6 million Poles – half of them Jews – died after German troops invaded the country after 1939. 

“Maybe Mr Musk with his billions doesn’t feel threatened,” Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras told Tok FM radio on Jan 27. “But every normal person living in the centre of Europe, who remembers what happened eighty years ago, cannot look on indifferently.”

“All I can say is that probably no normal Pole should buy a Tesla anymore,” said Mr Nitras, a senior figure in the ruling Civic Platform party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. 

The call for boycott coincides with a launch in February of a new government plan to encourage electric vehicle purchases in Poland that may benefit Tesla. It envisages as much as 40,000 zloty (S$13,400) in subsidies for individual car purchases.

Tesla was Poland’s most popular EV brand with more than 4,400 cars sold last year, according to data from Samar research institute. The company runs five showrooms and 15 supercharger facilities in Poland. BLOOMBERG