Post Name Change Volkswagen in the US Appears April 1 Joke

Volkswagen’s announcement to rename the company to Voltswagen in the United States, as many suspected an April 1 joke, has now also admitted a spokesman for the German carmaker.

 

The name Voltswagen was a nod to Volkswagen’s ambition to conquer the electric car market.

Volkswagen aroused disbelief on Tuesday with the announcement to officially change its name to the United States, two days before April 1. The announcement was supposed to gain additional credibility with a press release on the US website and a change to the Twitter account. A spokesman in the United States, interviewed by the AFP news agency, even confirmed the press release contents on Tuesday.

Some representatives of Volkswagen finally admitted to the American press on Tuesday that everything was a fraud. The company is expected to release another statement on Wednesday, a source said.

Whether the announcement was a sandwich monkey story, a marketing stunt, or reality, the news was not seen as entirely unlikely by some. Volkswagen has excellent ambitions in the electric car market. The company wants to become the international market leader from 2025, ahead of the American Tesla.

It is not entirely inconceivable that Volkswagen wants to polish up its image in the US for that reason. The German brand is mainly known for the Dieselgate scandal, which cost Volkswagen billions and part of its reputation.

By the way, “Voltswagen” was not the German car manufacturer’s first publicity stunt. In 2003, when Volkswagen launched a new Golf, Wolfsburg’s German home town was renamed Golfsburg for a few weeks.