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- The manufacturer had announced that it wanted to rename itself to Voltwagen
- Picture gallery: Volkswagen ID.4 1ST (2021)
The manufacturer had announced that it wanted to rename itself to Voltwagen
What was once planned as a harmless April Fool's joke could now backfire even more than it already did. According to Spiegel information the PR stunt has now caught the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The agency has launched an investigation into the company to determine if VW's bad humor could have affected the share price.
The company confirmed to Der Spiegel that the US authorities had requested information from the subsidiary Volkswagen Group of America (VWoA) and that the company would cooperate with the authorities.
What happened? The whole debacle began a few days before April 1st when VW in the US "accidentally" published a press release announcing that it was planning to change its company name. On March 30, VW changed its logos, updated their social media profiles and issued another press release about the change. With supposed comments from the President and CEO of VWoA, Scott Keogh.
On March 31, VW followed up with another press release that was supposed to put things right. A joke. Aha. The damage was already done, however, and the company's gag angered many news outlets who published the name change as a fact. We also fell for the joke back then.
More VW news: 
VW begins building third electric car plant in China
Elon Musk supposedly wanted VW boss Diess as Tesla boss
The joke was a quite courageous step for a manufacturer who had already lost a large amount of consumer confidence in the course of the Dieselgate. For example, VW not only had to pay a fine of several billion dollars in the USA, but afterwards massive investments were finally made in the direction of e-mobility.
Picture gallery: Volkswagen ID.4 1ST (2021)
VW has put a lot of effort into the electrical ID series. And the joke should actually be the first deliveries of the ID.4 models celebrate in the US. But VW should have approached the cheeky name change a little differently. Instead, the SEC is now investigating and we dare to doubt whether this US agency will laugh at it.
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