Poland’s sports minister Sławomir Nitras urged a consumer boycott of Tesla vehicles after billionaire Elon Musk had downplayed Germany’s past hours before the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp liberation, according to Euractiv.
No normal Pole should buy a Tesla anymore. There needs to be a serious and tough response to this, including something like a consumer boycott.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the downplaying of Germany’s guilt for historical crimes by key figures of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Meanwhile, Musk stated that “we focus too much on the guilt of the past and we need to overcome that.”
Tusk called Musk’s remarks “ominous, especially just hours before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.”
On Monday, about 60 world leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s King Charles III, attended a commemoration ceremony at the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
However, even despite Nitras’ appeals, not many Polish people can afford a Tesla car. Prices for Tesla models in Poland last year ranged from PLN 200,000 to 500,000 (€48,000-119,000), whereas the average cost of a new vehicle ranged around PLN 181,000 (€49,000), with a used car priced at about PLN 23,000 (€5,000).
While interest in Tesla cars is tangible, the electric vehicle market in the country remains relatively small. In 2024, fully electric vehicles accounted for about 3 per cent of the new passenger car market in Poland.
