Volkswagen wants to change its name in the USA.
The Wolfsburg want to exchange a single letter - and thus underline their radical change of course.
Herndon / USA - 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 legacy, vehicles with internal combustion engines will keep the dark blue color of the VW logo," 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-based Tesla want to stand up to the competition.
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 by 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.
