Volkswagen changes its name to Volkswagen in America
Volkswagen is preparing to change its brand name in America from the Volkswagen Group of America to the American Volkswagen.
The change comes as a sign of the German automaker's multi-billion-dollar effort to become the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer.
The company appears to have been planning to announce this at the end of April, but it mistakenly posted a press release about the early name change, which CNBC spotted for the first time before it was removed.
The approaching April Fools' Day approach raised suspicions at first that it was a joke, but Volkswagen insists the renaming is a real thing.
The company confirmed the change, and the Volkswagen Group, which includes brands such as: Audi, Porsche, and others, maintains the Volkswagen name for its American division, while the name change will take effect officially to become Volkswagen in May 2021.
It is not clear how the new name will be incorporated into the company's upcoming list of electric and fuel-powered cars.
Scott Keogh, President, and CEO of Volkswagen of America said: We might change the letter K to the letter T, but what we don't change is the brand's commitment to making best-in-class cars for drivers and people everywhere.
He added: The idea of the people's car is the fabric of our being, and we have said, since the beginning of our transformation into an electric future: We are building electric vehicles for millions, not only for millionaires, and this name change refers to a nod to our past as the people's car and our firm belief that our future is to be the electric car for the people.
The name change is largely a bold move by Volkswagen to draw attention to the electric vehicle's efforts.
And while the company is pumping significant amounts of money into this push toward electric cars, there is currently only one long-range Volkswagen electric vehicle for sale in the US, the ID 4 SUV.
The US also currently lags behind China and Europe when it comes to overall electric vehicle sales, despite being home to Tesla.