Chris Woodyard

USA TODAY

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton may be largely viewed as the winner of Monday night's presidential debate. But Ford Motor and the United Auto Workers union didn't do so bad either, marketing experts say.

The automaker and the union responded in real-time during the debate on Twitter with rebuttals of assertions made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about jobs going to Mexico.

It was a risky move. If Trump resented being corrected, he could amp up attacks on the automaker and its largest union.

Near the start of Monday night's debate, Trump singled out Ford for its decision to move small-car production to Mexico, saying it would cost jobs in Michigan and other heartland states.

"Our jobs are fleeing the country. They are going to Mexico," Trump said during his first answer during the presidential debate on Monday. "So, Ford is leaving -- thousands of jobs. Leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They are all leaving."

But Ford soon hit back with a tweet that didn't mention Trump or the debate.

"Ford has more hourly employees and produces more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker," it tweeted, with a graphic that showed 28,000 U.S. jobs produced in America in the past five years. In a show of unity, the UAW did the heavy lifting, tweeting a "fact check" that said: "Ford is not moving jobs out of Michigan. Our agreement secures future product commitments for affected plants."

Trump has singled out Ford on the campaign trail, at one point provoking a defense from CEO Mark Fields. But using Twitter gave the company a chance to respond in real-time.

"Ford is very savvy with social media in using it to communicate," says Ian Beavis, a veteran auto marketing executive who is now chief strategy officer for automotive consultancy AMCI Global. "They have nothing to hide."

They key, he said, was to correct the facts without getting into disputes. "You can get into Twitterstorms all the time and they avoided them by stating the facts," Beavis says.

By mentioning Ford as the poster child for jobs fleeing the U.S., Trump believes he has a potent argument against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

It's not the first time that automakers have figured into presidential politics. Both Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, makers of sleek plug-in cars, were blasted in 2012 by GOP nominee Mitt Romney for having taken federal loans and having a big probability for failure. Fisker went out of business, but Tesla survived and has become a leading force in high-tech electric cars.

Unlike Ford, neither company launched spirited defenses at the time.

In Ford's case, "it's not unusual they would dispute it when they have the facts on their side," says George Peterson, president of consulting and research firm AutoPacific.

And will it cause trouble for Ford with Trump?

"Only if he becomes president," Peterson quipped.

--Contributing: Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press