Volkswagen’s head of US business says he will be responsible for cleaning up after this week’s automaker’s clumsy marketing prank.
America’s Volkswagen Group CEO Scott Keogh pleaded guilty to his company’s botched attempt in an April Fools joke in which he announced it would be named “Voltzwagen”.
Many consumers and investors took Tuesday’s announcement seriously, even though VW said it was done just to highlight its commitment to electric vehicles – a response Keogh claimed he did not expect.
“Never in our wildest dreams have we imagined wearing it,” Keogh Told the Wall Street Journal In Thursday’s interview “If there is any trust or credibility in me, I’m going to do it.”
On Tuesday, Kogh released a news trumpeting the change that appeared on Volkswagen’s American communications website.
A draft of the release was published ahead of time on the site and the final version was taken down before posting, suggesting that the rebrand was genuine. VW’s corporate Twitter account also posted Tweet About the change that was yet to be taken as early as Friday morning.
“We can change our Kashmir to a tee, but what we are not changing is a commitment to making best-in-class vehicles for the drivers of this brand and people everywhere,” Keogh said in the release.
Keogh told the Journal that VW thought it would be clear that the stunt was meant as a joke and was not meant to trick the public. But the automaker’s headquarters in Germany had to reverse the announcement as it became clear that not everyone had shared their prudence.
Keogh reportedly saw a silver layer in the debacle: it focused on VW’s electric cars, such as its ID.4 VV.
“It was a hoax with humor, whether you like it or not,” he told the Journal. “The upside is, obviously, the social response is the largest number we’ve ever seen.”
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