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The mistake was conceived as a marketing tactic for the new electric car model.
With excuses and apologies, Volkswagen celebrated April Fools’ Day after wrongly spreading the lie too early that it was changing its name to Volkswagen. The automaker explained that the announcement by the company’s US division was just a joke “in the spirit of April Fools’ Day” to promote a new electric car. But even conceived as an innocent marketing ploy, this move could create serious problems for the giant, writes CNN.
It all started on Monday, March 29, when a press release about the upcoming change was uploaded to the company’s website. He withdrew a few hours later. However, it lasted long enough to attract the attention of journalists and fans of the brand. On Tuesday, the information was uploaded to the site again and
everything already
are convinced that
the change of
the name is real
and will go into effect in May as announced. The CEO of the American company Scott Keog was also summoned.
On Tuesday afternoon, the company admitted it was all a scam that turned into a complete disaster, reports CNN. The message on its website was published by mistake two days before the start of the new month, prompting dozens of prestigious media to reissue it.
The text was finally withdrawn on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, Volkswagen issued another statement explaining that the Volkswagen of America division had developed and implemented a marketing campaign to draw attention to Volkswagen’s electric offensive and
launch in the United States
of the new completely
electric
jeep ID.4
“We apologize if we have disappointed some people and we regret the confusion we have created,” the statement said.
The problem is that the joke was taken seriously and the situation could put the company at risk of violating US securities law. “This is not something a responsible global company can do,” said Charles Whitehead, Specialist. in business law from Cornell Law School. The mistake can lead to an inspection by the US Securities and Exchange Commission or lawsuits with investors who feel misled by the joke. The Securities Market Regulation Law
prohibits companies
make false or misleading
statements to investors
The company, for its part, recalls that it has published April Fool jokes in the past and this has not bothered securities regulators. In 2003, he temporarily changed the name of the German city of Wolfsburg to Golfsburg to announce a new golf model.
According to analysts, this time, however, there was nothing to suggest that there was a “wink” in the information.
Some details were given, such as how Volkswagen will be used on the chrome exterior emblems of all electric models, while gasoline and diesel will continue to carry the VW logo. In fact, the name of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta is written with the letter V, which in German is called Fau, so the legendary FauVe logo does not change.
You can even find a profile for “Voltsvagen” on Twitter, where it is announced that after 66 years it is unusual to change the company name, but the auto giant has a “young heart” and is reorienting itself towards electric cars.
Joking about the transition to a greener business may also irritate investors in light of the 2015 diesel emissions scandal, which the company still can’t get past.
The error was met with strong criticism on the net. “VW
lie that sells us diesel,
now they lie that they are selling us
electric cars “,
wrote the Automotive News blog. “They seem to think that lying to the audience is an acceptable corporate strategy,” the newspaper added.
Following the disclosure of the blunder, Volkswagen shares fell nearly 4%. The apology and clarification of the case led to some stabilization of the shares, but if an investigation is launched against the company, it is possible that the share prices will fall again.
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