No, Volkswagen will not rename itself Voltswagen. It was all a April Fools joke by the German auto maker.
Media outlets saw an online announcement from VW and believed the storied brand would change its’ name to Voltswagen. The New York Times reports that CNBC, USA TODAY and others reported quickly on the news. With the rush to report, it appears details were not confirmed with VW before hitting the publish button.
The prank comes as Volkswagen is launching the ID.4 all-electric SUV. Subsequently, VW changed it’s Twitter handle to “Voltswagen”, all part of the early April’s Fool Joke.
The ID.4 joins other new EV offerings from legacy automakers. The Ford Mustang Mach E and Chevrolet Bolt EUV have been attracting attention from Tesla fans and other EV enthusiasts.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess says he wants to ‘get close and then overtake’ Tesla. The shift in focus to electric vehicles comes at a time when authorities around the world are looking to increase the number of low- and zero-emission vehicles on their roads in a bid to tackle air pollution and move away from the internal combustion engine.
