The Ford vs. Tesla rivalry heats up once more.
Some of the world’s most prominent automakers aren’t shy to take jabs at each other from time to time. Sometimes, the outcome is innocent and rather amusing for the motoring media, such as this exchange between BMW and Mercedes-Benz on Halloween. There was also the time when Mercedes had a particularly witty response to an Audi social media campaign. Sometimes, though, the trolling has a darker undertone. That’s the case when it comes to a new Ford ad that appears to criticize the billionaire space race. Of course, Elon Musk is a member of the space race and the CEO of Tesla, one of Ford’s most significant rivals.
Ford
Ford Motor Company/YouTube
Ford Motor Company/YouTube
Ford Motor Company/YouTube
The Ford ad itself was designed to celebrate, among other things, the Blue Oval’s 182,000 workers and how they can often be overlooked in favor of “those who want to tear things down and then fly away on their own personal spaceships when things get hard.” The Ford ad included footage of a space shuttle taking off. If that’s not shade thrown in the direction of Musk, owner of the aerospace company SpaceX, then we don’t know what is. Ford implies that, while it is providing jobs for Americans and building cars, others are spending obscene amounts of money setting off into space.
A Ford spokesperson encouraged viewers not to read too much into the space race references in the ad. “The goal of the ad campaign is to celebrate all workers, beginning with Ford, which employs more hourly workers in the United States and assembles more vehicles in America than any other automaker,” said the spokesperson, according to Business Insider.
Besides the battles fought on the road with cars like the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E, the two automotive giants have been relentlessly compared, be it for charging stations that look the same or for their driver-assistance tech. All that being said, Ford CEO Jim Farley has previously expressed his respect for Tesla and Musk. As long as the world has access to affordable, safe, and enjoyable cars, we look forward to seeing this colorful rivalry intensify as Ford expands its EV range.
