Tesla Mega Bull Stans & Slams Ford Mach-E in Tweetstorm
Vocal Tesla investor Ross Gerber gave us whiplash with recent Tweets about the Mach-E and EV market. Then Ford entered the chat.
Almost every automaker out there is engaged in a dogfight for EV industry domination. Some of these clashes take shape in the race to get industry-best performance specs. While other rivalries are settled in sales and reception. But we especially love when these knock-down-drag-outs play out in real time. And where else would we come across such an EV rumble than in the social media jungle. Recently, Ford and Tesla traded barbs and blows on Twitter. From the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E to “vaporware,” it was a lot. But it was as interesting as it was entertaining.
At the middle of the scuffle was Ross Gerber. Gerber is a shrewd finance manager who is one of Tesla’s biggest investors. He is also one of its most outspoken proponents. Gerber is a noted “investment influencer”–a word I just learned existed today. As such, the CEO and Tesla bull does a lot of media appearances, contributes content, and has a large online presence.
He had recently driven a Mustang Mach-E and had some thoughts.
All done with the Ford Mach E. A lot to unpack with the experience as well as the car. Let’s start with, tesla is not a car company, it’s a tech company. Ford is a car company making an EV. But it’s a good EV. $F $TSLA pic.twitter.com/GPx4cFRZ4m
— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) March 20, 2021
Okay that sounds … good. He gets it, right?
“In fact my experience at the Ford dealer reinforced that Ford is selling lots of gas guzzler bronco trucks with high margins and could care less about selling the Mach E,” his next tweet said. Followed by another: “Ford didn’t even have the Mach E for sale on their website. Ford then lied about demand for the Mach e to try to upcharge me $5000. Then they told me the next day they were told to remove the fee after I tweeted about it, they have plenty of Mach Es on the lot unsold.”
Basically, Gerber went from giving the Mach-E a rave to trashing the company. “Very simple result. TESLA HAS NO COMPETITION. And legacy car companies will never compete. It’s just a dead model. The old car business dealer model. Dead.”
That is one lively corpse.
It is hardly unusual for anyone in the Elon-Hive to talk smack. What no one expected was the reply he got.
Absolutely. Like when @GerberKawasaki picks on a Mach-E customer for sharing their drive. Ross is a giant institutional investor in Tesla and that Mach-E customer is an individual. Don’t pick on Mach-E customers. https://t.co/DMHyegoA8i https://t.co/c3DyEsF8kJ
— Mike Levine (@mrlevine) March 20, 2021
Mike Levine, Ford’s North America product communications manager, ever so-coolly delivered a piping hot roast while defending the Mach-E. He added that “any Mach-E customer who sees a dealer adding a mark-up can reach out to me. I’ll help them find another dealer. Good luck reaching out to Tesla to get your [full self-driving] FSD.”
We cannot stress enough how cool that is. Mike Levine told Mach-E customers to contact him directly if there is a mark-up.
But the hits kept on coming. Levine shared facts, pictures, and footage comparing the Mustang to Tesla. An engaging conversation followed among drivers on the companies, and EVs in general.
But if there was one moment that was especially good it was when Ford emptied the clip.
Why would Ford have to compare? Don’t listen to me. Listen to the media. And return those $10K full-self driving deposits. Mach-E customers drive away with a car. Tesla customers drive off with vaporware. https://t.co/bpC8JRNTR1 https://t.co/y3ZOcIos3H
— Mike Levine (@mrlevine) March 21, 2021
Vaporware.
Oof. Levine is referring to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. Customers have stated that Tesla should not have included the technology before it was ready, and is largely considered half-baked or a flop.
While these two provided a lot of entertainment, it was an interesting interaction. But we have to give it up to Levine in particular for taking on the mark-up issue personally.
Frankly, both men have very interesting Twitter accounts and are well worth a follow. Wouldn’t want to miss the next dust up!
Photos: Twitter; Ford
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