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Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

reuters.com

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Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#121

Post by beamatronic »

gkoberger wrote: post #79
justaguy88 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I certainly didn't think it was a joke, it's seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to do * They got in trouble for diesel * They're pivoting to electric * The name sounds really similar, within the bounds of accent changes between cultures * The logo (VW) wouldn't have to change If it was a joke, then it failed because it was too realistic

I don't see it as a joke, but rather a marketing gimmick. IHOP did it a year ago (IHOB to announce their new burgers), and it got them a ton of press. I bet Volkswagon saw that and wanted in.

My thoughts exactly.

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#123

Post by bonestamp2 »

adrianb wrote: post #49

If anything, this is an amazing insight onto how the media will report anything from a press release without a minimum of investigation. The name change was essentially breaking news everywhere. - they're changing the almost 100 years old name with... a pun on that name? Even a teenager would see it as a joke. - the announcement comes out 2 days before April 1st and is deleted from the website shortly after publishin…

Your criticism is fair in general, but in this case CNBC claims the fact checkers were actually lied to when they attempted to confirm:

"Media outlets, including CNBC, reported it as news after it was confirmed by unnamed sources within the company, who apparently lied to several reporters."

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-u...

Also, I took a screenshot of the press release in case anyone missed it:

https://i.imgur.com/kJLMX5L.png

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#124

Post by spiznnx »

softwaredoug wrote: post #18

It is quite interesting from a branding perspective how hard it may be for traditional car companies to convince you to buy their electric car. Is a company like VW really investing, in the long run, in electric cars in the way Tesla is? Should I _really_ trust their one-off electric car they build to dip their toe in? You wonder what it WOULD take for VW, Chevy, Ford, Toyota etc to convince you their product and com…

It would take an excellent product, that's it. Best in class performance, efficiency, range, reliability, design, value, etc. for a single model is what is needed to prove their ability.

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#125

Post by bhupy »

outside1234 wrote: post #119
adrianb wrote: post #49

If anything, this is an amazing insight onto how the media will report anything from a press release without a minimum of investigation. The name change was essentially breaking news everywhere. - they're changing the almost 100 years old name with... a pun on that name? Even a teenager would see it as a joke. - the announcement comes out 2 days before April 1st and is deleted from the website shortly after publishin…

They quite literally - and it is still this way - changed the branding on their Twitter account AND TWEETED ABOUT IT so I am not sure why we should be beating up the press over this. ref: https://twitter.com/VW/status/1376868756782219266

There’s nothing unprecedented about a company temporarily changing branding and tweeting about it during April Fools day.

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#126

Post by tbrake »

adrianb wrote: post #49

If anything, this is an amazing insight onto how the media will report anything from a press release without a minimum of investigation. The name change was essentially breaking news everywhere. - they're changing the almost 100 years old name with... a pun on that name? Even a teenager would see it as a joke. - the announcement comes out 2 days before April 1st and is deleted from the website shortly after publishin…

There was verification - and intentional misleading on VWs part - before talking about it. It was not quite the "read press release and instantly write articles" timeline you've dreamt.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/volkswagens-name-change-of-u...

> An unfinished version of the initial press release went out briefly on VW’s U.S. media newsroom website Monday morning before it was taken down. Media outlets, including CNBC, *reported it as news __after__ it was confirmed by unnamed sources within the company, who apparently lied to several reporters.*

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#127

Post by ziml77 »

bhupy wrote: post #125
outside1234 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They quite literally - and it is still this way - changed the branding on their Twitter account AND TWEETED ABOUT IT so I am not sure why we should be beating up the press over this. ref: https://twitter.com/VW/status/1376868756782219266

There’s nothing unprecedented about a company temporarily changing branding and tweeting about it during April Fools day.

2 days before April Fools day is not April Fools day.

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#128

Post by wahern »

HenryBemis wrote: post #87
dheera wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, why is this such a big deal? Just change the name and change it back, the media can have at it, not their problem. Ultimately it's the car that matters.

> Just change the name and change it back For real? A company with global presence, to LEGALLY change their name? And then run through the bureaucratic hell with countries, tax authorities, customs, contracts, insurance companies, changing logos/templates.. Do you have what is the actual cost to change a name for a company? The top hit on a DDG search: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/how-do-i-change-my-business-na... B…

You don't need to legally change the business name. In fact, many of the businesses you're familiar with are incorporated under unfamiliar names. Rather, you can often just register a trade name (aka DBA name), which is a sort of formal alias which in principle is readily resolvable to the business name. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_name

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#129

Post by danso »

bhupy wrote: post #125
outside1234 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They quite literally - and it is still this way - changed the branding on their Twitter account AND TWEETED ABOUT IT so I am not sure why we should be beating up the press over this. ref: https://twitter.com/VW/status/1376868756782219266

There’s nothing unprecedented about a company temporarily changing branding and tweeting about it during April Fools day.

Which ones of VW’s size, on March 30?

Re: Volkswagen will not change name of U.S. operations: sources

#130

Post by [deleted] »

adrianb wrote: post #49

If anything, this is an amazing insight onto how the media will report anything from a press release without a minimum of investigation. The name change was essentially breaking news everywhere. - they're changing the almost 100 years old name with... a pun on that name? Even a teenager would see it as a joke. - the announcement comes out 2 days before April 1st and is deleted from the website shortly after publishin…

[deleted]
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