Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Kia removed a controversial Instagram post attacking Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk from its Norwegian account early Monday after it sparked debate on X over the weekend.
The post, part of Kia’s marketing campaign for its entry-level EV3 model, featured the car’s rear with a sticker reading: “I bought this after Elon went crazy.”
The slogan mirrors a sentiment shared by some Tesla owners in the U.S. who have expressed dissatisfaction with CEO Elon Musk’s recent political actions since Donald Trump was elected the new President last November.
Back in January, Kia said the access to Tesla’s Superchargers would be delayed from January until “sometime in March” due to “technical reasons.” As of the time of writing, Elon Musk did not react to the carmaker’s campaign.
On the Instagram post, the top liked comments showed support for Tesla with one of them saying, “Tell me you can’t compete on product without telling me.” With 72 likes, the top comment reads, “Tesla all day long!”
The EV3 was introduced in Europe last November and features a range of up to 375 miles (603 km) per charge and a starting price of €36,000 in Germany ($39,000).
Online marketplaces, including Amazon, have been seeing increased demand for stickers with phrases like “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy” and “Anti-Elon Tesla Club.”
