Following the news that Volkswagen’s in the US issued false statements this week of a planned brand name change to ‘Voltswagen’;

David Leggett, Automotive Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view: 

“As PR stunts go, this will probably go down as a case study in sending out a message that causes confusion but ultimately gains column inches and readers making the hoped-for connections.

“Everyone likes a good April Fool and this one took a lot of news publishers in because of the way the press statements were sent out and the fact that it was ahead of April Fools’ Day (1 April).

“However, it has succeeded in getting plenty of media coverage for Volkswagen’s electrification strategy, especially in the all-important US market in conjunction with the market launch of the ID.4 electric SUV.

“If some publishers have egg on their face and there are one or two miffed reporters, that’s probably seen as a small price to pay.”