EV Fans Scramble to Get Pronunciation of 'Voltswagen' Right Only to Realise it's April Fool's Prank

Volkswagen and more importantly the electric vehicle enthusiasts were recently taken on a ride by the German automaker after the company announced the renaming of its US operations as “Voltswagen of America" in a bid to draw people’s attention to its electric vehicle efforts. Turns out, it was all a joke. An April Fool’s prank, some felt, that had gone “too far". VW came under criticism on social media for its misleading news release on Tuesday, some commenters recalling the company’s diesel emissions scandal and years of misleading customers and regulators.

“Volkswagen of America will not be changing its name to Voltswagen. The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, highlighting the launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV and signaling our commitment to bringing electric mobility to all," a VW U.S. spokesman said in a statement.

The news release, posted on its website and accompanied by tweets, was reported by Reuters and other outlets globally and included a detailed description of its purported rebranding efforts and new logos. The company pulled it late Tuesday.

But before it was revealed that it was a “joke" and not a thing of reality, curious netizens really wanted to know how to pronounce “Voltswagen" right. Is it “volts-va-gun" or “folts-va-gun" as similar to “folks-va-gun" or more commonly used “volks-va-gun".

But hey it turned out to a prank, something left the Internet sharply divided.