[TusharK]

Earlier this week, Volkswagen announced that it was changing its name to Voltswagen (volt being a unit of electric potential difference). The company intended to showcase to the world just how serious it was about electric vehicles. As it turns out, it was all part of an April Fool's Day joke.



Volkswagen's Mark Gillies confirmed that the intended name change from Volkswagen to Voltswagen was part of the company's pre-April Fool's Day joke. The company further stated that while the announcement of the new name may have been just for kicks and giggles, the underlining theme was the emphasis on electric vehicles.

The joke was taken a bit too seriously in some quarters of the media. Even the financial markets fell for it. Volkswagen shares in the US rose by 5% after the name change was announced.

Source: HT Auto

Link to Team-BHP News

[StarrySky]

I think VW could've used the Voltswagen name in an ad campaign - something along the lines of a VW with an electric heart might as well be called Voltswagen. That might've made more impact.

[SmartCat]

Cryptocurrencies are much hotter than EVs.

BMW shares can see a spike of up to 10% if it changes its name tomorrow to "Bitcoin Motoren Werke AG".

[Venkatesh]

Volkswagen regrets how Voltswagen campaign was perceived.



Volkswagen says it is sorry about any confusion that its fake release caused. Link



Reporters reacted angrily to the stunt. Link

Volkswagen came under criticism on social media for its news release, which it later pulled, with some commentators recalling the company's diesel emissions scandal and years of misleading customers and regulators.

Automotive News : Volkswagen lied to sell diesels, now it lied to sell EVs.

Link

[fhdowntheline]

VW does not have the brash / bold image carry out such stunts like say, a Tesla or Virgin Atlantic . If Tesla were to do something like this, people would say, wow, cool!
They should really harness the power of their brand properly .

[V.Narayan]

I thought it was a jolly good April's Fool joke. Certainly made more waves in the world than my April's Fool prank made in my household!! Thud...Phoooos.

With the advent of social media I get the impression many quarters are too thin skinned and get offended too soon. For some sections of the media "getting offended" is a full time job!

Or maybe taking offense fulfills our dopamine attention needs or our sulking needs. To the media that got offended I have to say this - shake a leg, enjoy the joke and get on with life.

[sukarsan]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Volkswagen says it is sorry about any confusion that its fake release caused. Link

No apologies from VW. Just an acknowledgement from what I can see on their official twitter feed. Link


They seem to be getting good traction from this campaign with a lot of outraged discussions online. I dont see why everything they do has to be linked with dieselgate. I found this reaction from Verge to be hilarious. They fell for it and now they have poured their anger out by linking a harmless prank with the sinister dieselgate..

[lemedico]

to be honest, Voltswagen is actually a pretty good name for their EV division!

[Merc_Freak]

A very immature move by VW. I don’t exactly know what their purpose was behind this. But it sure has backfired. This is not a good way to gain attention in a country you’re already failing in.

[volkman10]

Volkswagen Under SEC Investigation Over Renaming Stunt.

The agency has opened an investigation into the company to determine if VW's poorly executed April Fools' Day joke announcing it would change its name to Voltswagen affected its stock price.

Details about the investigation are scarce at the moment, though the company did confirm that the US agency had requested information from its subsidiary Volkswagen Group of America (VWoA), and it is cooperating with authorities.

Link

[RahulNagaraj]

Volkswagen under investigation over its April fool's prank

Last month, Volkswagen pulled a marketing stunt by putting out a fake press release indicating that the company will be changing its name to 'Voltswagen' in America.



According to media reports, the failed April fool's prank has now attracted the attention of the US Security & Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC is now reported to have opened an enquiry on the US subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The commission will be investigating a possible influence in the share price of Volkswagen caused due to the marketing stunt.

This inquiry is said to have come after the US media accused Volkswagen of being misled. The carmaker justified the marketing stunt by launching the ID.4 electric car in the US.

Source: Der Spiegel

Link to Team-BHP news

[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Volkswagen under investigation over its April fool's prank

There should also be an inquiry about the April fool’s prank about launching the new generation Polo in India.

That prank was really bad.

I am saying this, coz I still have doubts of them launching the new Polo in India inspite of the current rumours which are hinting in that direction.

I would advice not to believe any rumours about the new Polo for India, till we actually see one!

[DicKy]

Wait!!!

Under investigation for the prank? Thought it would be some PC guys or SJWs losing their...

But the US Security and Exchange Commission accusing Volkswagen of trying to influence their share market prices?

Market manipulation is what Elon Musk is doing with his tweets. Not that the SEC was not doing anything, but he doesn't seem to be fazed with the SEC charges.

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Wait!!!

Under investigation for the prank? Thought it would be some PC guys or SJWs losing their...

But the US Security and Exchange Commission accusing Volkswagen of trying to influence their share market prices?

Market manipulation is what Elon Musk is doing with his tweets. Not that the SEC was not doing anything, but he doesn't seem to be fazed with the SEC charges.

I guess they don't like ze Germanz too much

Market manipulation would be the last thing on anybody's mind when going for a stupid stunt like this.
Volkswagen was probably aiming at taking a dig at themselves for their past actions and at the same time make a statement about their commitment to electric cars. The way marketing dept. would have looked at this is "Whether people like it or not its good publicity". As they say "Publicity is publicity whether good or bad" But it has backfired big-time.

Personally I didn't mind it too much. Maybe they should have provided some distinct clues that would help people figure out it was a joke once they got over the initial shock.
I'm just happy I'm not in the marketting team who came up with this.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by ZenMaster

I guess they don't like ze Germanz too much

Reminds me of the time when US officials were seriously questioning Toyota on how their trucks ended up with the ISIS.

That too ironically, the first trucks that ISIS got their hands on were American donor trucks from the Syrian rebels. A Texan plumber found himself receiving hate messages and threats when it was found that the truck he sold to a local dealer ended up with the ISIS, a gun mounted on top of it and his shop's decals still on the doors.