- Tesla will no longer have a presence at this month’s Vancouver Auto Show.
- Event organizers decided the brand represented a security risk after protests.
- It was removed after failing to act on multiple opportunities to withdraw.
The recent wave of attacks on Tesla cars and showrooms continues to have a negative effect on the automaker’s business. The organizers of this month’s Vancouver Auto Show announced yesterday that they were booting the EV brand from the lineup due to security concerns.
It seems the Show grew concerned that the presence of Tesla vehicles at the event, which starts today, might attract angry protests and more vandal attacks. Having decided it wanted Tesla out, the VIAC gave the brand multiple opportunities to pull out on its own terms, which it refused.
Related: Tesla Under Siege As Multiple EVs Set On Fire And Vandalized Across The US In One Day
So, with Tesla vehicles already in place at the Vancouver Convention Center ready for an expected 130,000 visitors to pore over, organizers went for the nuclear option only a day before the Show’s door opened.
“The Vancouver International Auto Show has removed Tesla … after the automaker was provided multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw,” Eric Nicholl, the auto show’s executive director, said in a statement, as reported by the Vancouver Sun. “The Vancouver Auto Show’s primary concern is the safety of attendees, exhibitors and staff.”
Images taken by the Vancouver Sun show a Cybertruck, Model 3, and a facelifted Model Y in the display hall. Showgoers will now have to content themselves with the almost 200 more vehicles from other brands including GM, Ford and Toyota that will remain on site.
The VIAC had already taken flak for allowing Tesla to display cars at all due to CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with US President Donald Trump, who has slapped tariffs on goods imported from Canada. Musk, like Trump, has also questioned Canada’s sovereignty.
Teslas and Tesla showrooms across the US have been targeted by protestors angry at Musk’s DOGE work for Trump, which resulted in thousands of federal employees losing their jobs. Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi have labeled perpetrators domestic terrorists and promised “severe consequence” for anyone found guilty of crimes against Tesla.