VW attracted worldwide attention with a press release on an allegedly planned name change in the USA.
Now the group is rowing back in a hurry.
Update from March 31st, 9:41 am
- The allegedly planned renaming of Volkswagen to "Voltwagen" in the USA was apparently just a marketing gimmick.
“The renaming should be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool's joke,” VW said on Tuesday.
A VW spokesman at the German manufacturer's headquarters in Wolfsburg previously called it “an interesting idea” from the marketing department.
On Monday, VW had published a press release on its US press portal for a short time about the alleged renaming to "Voltwagen of America".
Media reported about it worldwide, including Merkur.de.
At the request of several media, the group had confirmed the alleged renaming in the USA.
The aim is to underline the importance of e-cars for the future of the group, it said.
Now the group is rowing back.
VW April Fool's Joke: Strong criticism from US media because of "Voltwagen of America"
In the USA, the group’s actions caused some fierce criticism.
A spokeswoman for the world's largest news agency, AP, said such actions would harm good journalism and the common good.
VW had previously stated in response to a request from AP that the published press release on the renaming in Voltwagen was genuine.
USA Today was also outraged.
A reporter specifically asked whether the renaming was possibly a joke, which VW denied.
The group manipulated journalists just to drive a marketing campaign for a new electric vehicle, it said.
VW April Fool's Joke: US journalist sees disinformation
USA Today reporter Nathan Bomey wrote on Twitter that this was not a joke, but a "deception".
In the USA there is a problem with disinformation anyway.
“Now you are part of it,” he wrote with a view to Volkswagen in the USA.
Marketing professionals were also appalled.
With corporations like VW there is too much at stake to make jokes about it, said the strategy chief of the New York marketing specialist R / GA Tom Morton of the news agency Bloomberg.
For the corporations, the conversion towards e-mobility is the greatest challenge.
“Joking about it undermines their commitment”.
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VW April Fool's Joke: In the worst case, there is a risk of trouble with the US stock exchange regulator
The April Fool's joke even caused VW's share price to rise in the meantime.
This could even threaten the Wolfsburg with trouble with the US authorities.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is considered particularly strict and could now take a closer look at the Wolfsburg-based marketing stunt.
VW has recently been wrong several times with its advertising campaigns.
It was only at the beginning of the year that the group came under fire for advertising on the ultra-right US portal Breitbart.
The controversial website had repeatedly attracted attention in the past due to the spread of conspiracy ideologies, public opinion and false reports.
Last year VW also received a shit storm for an advertising clip for the introduction of the Golf 8.
In the video, a dark-skinned man is flicked through the picture by a huge, white hand.
That had registered the Wolfsburgers with the accusation of racism.
Rebranding: Volkswagen wants to rename itself in the USA - and thereby set an example
First report from March 30, 9:27 a.m.
- Volkswagen is working on its image in the USA.
The US Today and CNBC news sites report a document that the automaker accidentally posted on its US press platform on March 29th.
Actually, the announcement was not supposed to go online until April 29th.
Volkswagen quickly fixed the bug, but media representatives still had enough time to download it.
The company itself did not initially comment on the content of the leaked document.
Volkswagen rebranding in the USA: exchanging letters
Accordingly, the group announces a name change.
From May 1st, “Volkswagen of America” will become “Voltwagen of America”.
This is supposed to be linked to volts, the unit for electrical voltage.
In the future, all electrified models sold in the USA should be recognizable by the Voltwagen logo.
With the rebranding, the color of the logo will also be changed.
Voltwagen works with a lighter variant of the brand blue.
The change is a clear statement from the group for its green commitment.
With the renaming, Volkswagen wants to give a "public commitment by the company to a future-oriented investment in e-mobility," CNBC quotes from the document.
Volkswagen rebranding in the USA: everything stays the same for cars with internal combustion engines
At Volkswagen itself, everything stays the same.
In order to “preserve elements of the Volkswagen heritage, the dark blue color of the VW logo will be retained on vehicles with internal combustion engines,” the document says.
The name change also has no organizational effects.
"Voltwagen of America" will be an operational unit of the "Volkswagen Group of America".
Volkswagen rebranding in the USA: on the way to becoming an e-car company
The renaming to Voltwagen is another step on the way to becoming an electric car company.
With all their might, the Wolfsburg Tesla want to stand up.
During the “VW Power Days” at the beginning of March, the group had already announced that it would significantly increase sales of electric cars by the end of the decade.
By 2030, 70 percent of the cars sold in Europe are to be powered by electric motors.
Previously, the goal was 35 percent.
In the USA and China, the goals are a little more subdued.
Within nine years, the share of electric cars in these two markets should be 50 percent.
Part of the strategy is also the construction of six gigafactories in Europe, which will produce battery cells with an energy content of 240 gigawatt hours annually until 2030.
(GWh) can produce.
Salzgitter and Skellefteå in northern Sweden have already been selected as locations.
The other four locations are still open.
Among other things, a location at Seat in Spain is under discussion.