Volkswagen changes US name to VOLTSwagen, no rebrand planned for Australia

Volkswagen will change the name of its US division to ‘Voltswagen of America’, in a push to highlight the brand’s shift towards electrification.

According to US business news outlet CNBC, an incomplete press release leaked overnight suggests the ‘Voltswagen’ moniker will be used on all zero-emission models from May 2021 onwards, while internal combustion variants will – at least for the time being – retain the existing Volkswagen badging.

A spokesperson for the brand in Australia assured CarAdvice the name change was not an April Fools ploy, however confirmed there would be no rebrand locally: “This is purely a US gambit. Nomenclature is scarcely a consideration in Australia where the overriding concern is overcoming official indifference, indeed hostility, to wider electric vehicle implementation.”