The Internet abounded early Tuesday with rumours that Volkswagen accidentally dropped an early April Fools joke by posting a press release stating that it was rebranding Volkswagen of America to "Voltswagen," in honour of its push for vehicle electrification. The release was almost immediately pulled.

A company representative doubled-down early Tuesday and said the plan was no joke. The leaked release was re-released on official channels. By the end of the day, however, the company had apparently decided the joke had gone on long enough.

It remains unclear whether the original release was accidentally sent a bit early. The original release carried two dates - 29 March and 29 April. The official release was dated 30 March. The fake name change was slated to go into effect on 1 May.

None of those dates are 1 April, the traditional date for April Fools pranks, Kallanish notes.

"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. We will provide additional updates on this matter soon," the representative says.

While the name change might have been a joke, the company stands behind the future of electric vehicles.

“We might be changing out our K for a T, but what we aren’t changing is this brand’s commitment to making best-in-class vehicles for drivers and people everywhere,” says Volkswagen of America ceo Scott Keogh in both release versions - now known to be spurious. “The idea of a ‘people’s car’ is the very fabric of our being. We have said, from the beginning of our shift to an electric future, that we will build EVs for the millions, not just millionaires. This name change signifies a nod to our past as the peoples’ car and our firm belief that our future is in being the peoples’ electric car.”