Volkswagen said in a press release that it claimed that the German auto giant was rewriting its US division as “America’s Voltswagen”.
On March 29, CNBC was quickly removed from the company’s site on Monday, after reporting on the name change, a sentence to emphasize the German automaker’s electric vehicle push.
A Volkswagen Insider Outlet confirmed The release’s authenticity, called the name, “a public announcement of the company’s future further investment in e-mobility.”
However, by Tuesday afternoon, officials at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, Told the Wall Street Journal The press release and name change were merely a marketing spoof to raise awareness of the company’s first all-electric sport utility vehicle, the ID.4, which went on sale in the US this month.
“It’s a premature April Fool’s joke.” This is part of a marketing campaign for ID.4, ”an official told the publication. “There will be no name change.”
When The Post reached Monday to confirm the veracity of the CNBC report, VW’s German office referred questions to the US division, refusing to comment.
Paired with confusion, the rogue press release, which was taken down from the site of VW’s US media relations on Monday, was Reposted on Tuesday The new date of March 30, despite pushback from headquarters.
Representatives in Germany and the US did not immediately respond to the Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.
The automaker’s shares were up 9.4 percent at $ 34.90 in mid-trading in recent trading Tuesday, after reports that the “Voltswagen” rebranding was not happening, after all.
The release quoted Scott Keogh, Voltaswagen president and chief executive of the US, as saying, “We can change our Kashmir to a tee, but what we’re not changing is to make it the best-in-class vehicle for drivers.” Commitment. And people everywhere. “
The Journal reported that Keogh’s Twitter account on Tuesday pushed the new name forward despite widespread confusion over Monday’s press release.
Volkswagen is making a strong push into the electric car space. Earlier this month, the automaker organized a “Power Day” to discuss its EV technologies.
The company also announced targets for a significant increase in EVS sales through the end of the decade, expecting it to account for more than 70 percent of European sales of its Volkswagen brand by EV by 2030. This is a huge increase from their previous target of 35 percent. In the US and China, the company expects half of its sales to be EV by that timeframe.
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