Last week, Elon Musk officially became the new self-proclaimed "Chief Twit," i.e. the new owner of Twitter. There's an entire debate regarding the direction that the social media platform will take under Musk's private ownership, with ramifications into politics, sociology, advertising, privacy, free speech and much more.
We're more interested about how this transaction will impact automakers that are currently present on Twitter, more specifically how they will react to the fact that one of their main mediums of promotion is now owned by the CEO of Tesla, which is a competitor for many of these automakers.
Earlier this year, we've seen Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker delete his Twitter account immediately after he learned of Musk's bid to take over the social network. "I do not want my free speech to be actively managed or controlled by a competitor," Fisker explained the move. The company's corporate Twitter page carries on, though.
Citroën was one of the first automakers to react to Musk's acquisition of Twitter in an October 28 tweet that read, "Hello to the social media platform owned by one of our competitors."
The cheeky tweet is an accurate description of the situation automakers present on Twitter are finding themselves in right now. While Citroën is not a direct Tesla competitor yet—it doesn't sell EVs in the same segments as the US company—it will probably become one in the coming years as it plans to sell only EVs in Europe by 2030. The automaker is obviously concerned about the CEO of a rival company controlling Twitter.
Citroën's current EV lineup includes the Ami quadricycle, Ë-C4 Electric subcompact crossover, Ë-Berlingo Electric compact MPV and Ë-SpaceTourer Electric large MPV. The brand will soon add the Ë-C4 X high-riding compact electric fastback to the lineup, which could be seen as a rival for the Tesla Model 3.
Another automaker that has reacted to the news of Elon Musk finalizing the Twitter acquisition deal is General Motors. The US company told CNBC on October 28 that it is suspending its advertising on Twitter following Musk's takeover of the social media platform.
GM said it is "pausing" advertising as it evaluates Twitter's new direction, although it will continue to use the platform to interact with customers.
"We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue."
General Motors statement
Meanwhile, Ford told CNBC that it is not currently advertising on Twitter and had not been doing so prior to Elon Musk's take-private deal. "We will continue to evaluate the direction of the platform under the new ownership," the automaker said in a statement, adding that it is continuing to engage with customers on Twitter.
