Volkswagen US name change to 'Voltswagen' was April Fool's joke gone awry

Earlier, the automaker caused an uproar last year with a video clip that showed a black man being controlled by a giant white hand

Volkswagen of America’s purported name change to “Voltswagen” was an April Fool’s joke gone bad.

On Monday, the automaker briefly posted, then removed, a draft press release on its website supposedly announcing it was changing its name to promote electric vehicles. VW then put out a media release Tuesday pledging to rebrand itself “Voltswagen” in the U.S. as “a public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility.”

Later Tuesday, the company fessed up.

“The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day,” VW said in a statement after removing the earlier release from