Volkswagen admits to having made a false announcement to change the name of the division | Business



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Several news agencies and media outlets, including The Associated Press, USA Today, CNBC, The Washington Post, and Agence France-Presse (AFP), reported the press release as real news, some later, when manufacturers were assured that it was not so. a joke.

The scam even raised the company’s stock prices for a short time, writes the business newspaper The Wall Street Journal, which first discovered the scam by contacting a company official at the manufacturer’s headquarters in Germany.

Volkswagen has repeatedly assured The Associated Press that its US division plans to change its name and has reported the information, which is now known to be false, said Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for the news agency. – We correct our report and issue a new report based on the company’s confession. We believe that this and any other deliberate disclosure of false information is harmful to journalism and society. “

Announcements of Volkswagen’s intention to change the division’s name in the United States appeared on Monday when a press release appeared briefly on the company’s website, drawing the attention of journalists.

CNBC is believed to have become the first major news organization to report the news.

Volkswagen assured several media outlets that the press release was not a joke.

“The company used this false message as a way to manipulate reputable journalists from reputable news agencies to draw attention to its marketing campaign,” Easton noted. “We are disappointed that the company has chosen this type of marketing.”



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