Volkswagen boss joins Twitter with a blow to Elon Musk

Volkswagen Group boss Herbert Diess joined Twitter on Wednesday, and his first tweet was a slight tail from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

“Hello @Twitter! I’m here to make an impact with @VWGroup, especially on political issues, ”Diess wrote. “And of course to get some of your market share @elonmusk – after all our ID.3 and e-tron won the first markets in Europe. Looking forward to productive discussions! “

Diess – who settled criminal charges last year relating to his role in the Dieselgate emissions scandal – was referring to how the first consumer electric vehicles of his VW and Audi brands performed well in Europe (and especially in Germany) during their first year, causing Tesla to lose market share on the continent. (Namely, by writing this, Tesla lowered the prices of the Model 3 in Europe.)

Most CEOs in the automotive industry and other big brands use Twitter on a mandatory basis. They make majestic comments on new products or initiatives, but otherwise are absent from the daily routine.

It’s hard to imagine Diess – who has praised Musk in the past – doing anything other than tweeting playful jabs like Wednesday’s, let alone engaging Musk on his terms with sneaky, stock market memes and jokes. . On the one hand, Diess barely survived a major power struggle that took place within the Volkswagen Group. While he remains the best boss, he was stripped of his title of CEO of the VW brand largely because of the major software issues the ID 3 encountered during its deployment.

Stranger things have happened, but the idea that Diess – who apparently forced his leaders to participate in a “syntegration workshop” – would shatter edgelord seems unlikely. Musk, meanwhile, has spent nearly two years possibly violating a court order that says he’s supposed to have tweets about Tesla prescreened by a lawyer.

To Musk’s credit, he also spends a lot of time on Twitter responding to customers who have suggestions or complaints about Tesla’s products. In fact, this has become such a critical pipeline that Tesla’s energy division has spent the last few months hiring customer service specialists who are now helping meet these demands. If Diess is learning any lessons on how to use Musk’s Twitter, it can be a good place to start given the status of ID 3.