Kia's Norwegian dealership posted and then deleted a satirical post about Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Musk is reacting in disbelief, which has sparked controversy.
According to industry sources on the 12th, a post criticizing Musk was reportedly uploaded to the social network account operated by Kia's Norway branch and was then deleted. The post included an image of a sticker on the rear of a Kia EV3 that read, 'I bought this car after Elon went crazy.' The sticker appears to parody the growing discontent towards Musk in the U.S.
With Musk's erratic actions, Tesla's stock has plummeted, and discontent towards him is growing, leading some car owners to reportedly place stickers that read, 'I bought this car before Elon went crazy.' The dealership that posted and then deleted the photo is said to have been an independent dealer with no ties to Kia's headquarters. However, controversy is escalating as Musk, having seen a screenshot before its deletion, reacted through X (formerly Twitter).
The founder of Merit Twin Birch USA, known as a Tesla investor, posted a screenshot of the deleted content on his X account. Seeing this, Musk asked, 'Did they really do that?' and Merit responded, 'Yes.' He then posted an 11-second video of online reactions in the comments to prove it was not manipulated. There is criticism online regarding the promotional method of Kia's Norwegian dealership being highly inappropriate.