VW CEO Joins Twitter, Throws Shade at Tesla and Elon Musk

Volkswagen is a major auto brand, and is, thus far, the only major automaker to truly put up a fight against Tesla. Still, it’s worth a small fraction of Tesla’s market capitalization, so the fight’s far from over.

On Thursday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess created his own Twitter account, and tweeted his first message straight to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

In the tweet, Diess said he was “here to make an impact with @VWGroup, especially on political issues.” In addition, the tweet also stated, “And, of course, to get some of your market shares, @elonmusk.”

Diess’ means of banter didn’t immediately receive a response from Musk, and in fact, Diess and Musk met up just a few months ago to share some kind words and a test drive of the VW ID.3. At this point, even the bold call-out from Diess feels pretty wholesome – even if he and his company are out for blood.

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

— Herbert Diess (@Herbert_Diess) January 20, 2021

Volkswagen and Audi electric vehicles are off to a good start in Germany and Europe, taking some wind out of Tesla’s sails. But don’t count out Elon yet, as Tesla lowered the price of the Model 3 in Germany and other parts of Europe yesterday. Gigafactory Berlin has still yet to be completed so Diess should be prepared for an upcoming wave of new Teslas in the region soon.

For now, Tesla’s holding a pretty defensible position as the dominating EV company in the auto market. However, with a number of companies releasing full lineups of zero-emission vehicles in the next several years, it’s tough to say what the market’s competition will look like by 2025, let alone beyond that when EVs will become the status quo.