#HTE

No, Volkswagen is Not Changing Its Name to Voltswagen

On Monday a Volkswagen press release was “leaked”–i.e. posted, then quickly deleted–announcing that Volkswagen of America was changing their name to Voltswagen, as an acknowledgement of their commitment to going all-electric.

Anytime you release, then delete a press release, it tends to get a lot of attention from media outlets, who excitedly believe they’ve learned a secret released by accident. Which is precisely what Volkswagen wanted, to generate buzz, and it worked. By Tuesday VW Tweeted what appeared to be a confirmation:

Now it turns out, however, that this was all a lame April Fool’s Day publicity stunt for their forthcoming ID.4. “A spokesman for the parent company in Germany [said the name change] was a joke,” The Wall Street Journal reported last night.

“We didn’t mean to mislead anyone,” a Volkswagen spokesman in Wolfsburg told The Wall Street Journal. “The whole thing is just a marketing action to get people talking about the ID.4.”

Descending trumpet notes.

I’m a VW owner myself, but have to say: Following the diesel scandal where Volkswagen deceived regulators, is a deceptive marketing campaign in the other direction really a great idea?