VW pulls the leaf out of Musk’s Twitter book

It was April Fool’s joke that came out wrong. In an embarrassing apology, Volkswagen had to confirm at the end of March that the US had switched to “Voltswagen” as a step forward in its electric future.

However, after a misguided announcement prompted a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the group joined the rise in US shares, it was in line with the social media strategy launched by the car manufacturer’s German headquarters.

Last summer, VW CEO Herbert Diess told staff he wanted more voices on the network. According to people close to senior management, the group believed it should get the attention of people like Elon Musk, who invests more than 35 billion euros in electricity technology.

“Maybe we need a big boost,” a person familiar with the strategy described the approach, as Diess had to take to LinkedIn and then Twitter with increasingly provocative messages.

Diess is also active in China’s Weibon, where she is in charge of founding Tesla – she has used social media for years to promote herself and her business to followers.

VW unveiled its first electric car, ID.3, last year, selling nearly 232,000 battery-powered vehicles in 2020, making it the largest electric vehicle company in Europe in the process. By the end of the decade, it wants 70% of its sales in Europe to be emissions-free.

Despite these intentions, the German company is worth less than a third of Tesla, as the VW Group is building a plant 150 kilometers from its base in Wolfsburg.

In an unusual move by the tight corporate class in Germany, Diess has made a lot of progress in warning VW.

While the Bavarian wore a Batman mask while showing off one of the group’s cars in a LinkedIn post, he took a selfie with Musk to test his ID when he visited VW, and after joining Twitter earlier this year, he played with Tesla. executive, who tried to hire Diess when he was BMW manager.

Major VW has also networked with climate activists and politicians on the best way to achieve carbon-neutral transportation.

The importance of this strategy is underscored by a weekly meeting on social media planning, chaired by Diess, and one person said it could last two hours. The analysis of previous publications is analyzed and the potential “viral content” for the coming days is discussed.

Some say the tactic has helped VW gain more recognition.

“It simply came to our notice then [Daimler boss Ola] Kallenius and [BMW’s Oliver] Zipse won’t be out there, ”said Michael Muders, the portfolio manager at Union Investment, VW’s seven major shareholders.

“You need a lot of money to master the transition,” he added. “This is part of the game plan.”

The key to this plan is the ability to attract the attention of U.S. fund managers, as VW focuses much more on younger competitors. To achieve this goal, VW has recently started making quarterly press calls in English.

“After Dieselgate, there was no interest from American investors,” said a person close to VW’s board of directors. More than half of Diessen’s Twitter followers are from the U.S., they added.

GM and Ford are trying to emphasize that VW has an advantage over traditional competitors, such as dedicated electric platforms, one of which is licensed by Fordi, due to the headlines for naming dates when it will stop selling combustion engine cars.

This technology “gives VW the lead over its peers,” said Daniel Schwarz, an analyst at Stifel. “We now have the European Green Agreement and VW’s strategy is even more promising.”

Along with other events, such as the “Power Day” day focused on battery technology designed to create an online buzz, VW’s online attack coincided with a major rise in the manufacturer’s stock.

In a short time this spring, Beetle-maker once again wore the crown of Germany’s most valuable public company, despite no significant changes to its already ambitious electricity plans, and reclaimed land lost in the 2015 oil spill scandal.

Critically, however, it’s not clear how much Diess’s tweets help.

Although VW’s shares have more than doubled since reaching their 10-year lows in March last year, Daimler’s shares have tripled in the same period, despite Sweden’s reserved CEOs being off Twitter.

“I use LinkedIn because we know it’s a very good tool for attracting talent to our company,” Kallenius told the Financial Times, “and I’m continuing with that for now.”

If the stock rally – driven in part by rising car demand – continues, German carmakers will likely have to do more than spread the hashtags.

“It’s probably gotten easy money in the market,” Union Muders said. “The question is what are the margins of the electric vehicle business. That will be the focus of the market. “