April 30, 2021 - An investor in shares of Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Volkswagen AG in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between March 29, 2021 and March 30, 2021.

On March 29, 2021, CNBC published an article entitled “VW accidentally leaks new name for its U.S. operations: Voltswagen” stating that “Volkswagen is expected to change the name of its operations in the U.S. to ‘Voltswagen of America,’ emphasizing the German automaker’s electric vehicle efforts” and that “[a] now unpublished press release called the change a ‘public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility.’”

Then on March 30, 2021, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “No, Volkswagen Isn’t Rebranding Itself Voltswagen” which stated “[t]he name change stunt comes as the company is eager to get U.S. consumers jazzed about the ID. 4, which went on sale in U.S. showrooms this month.” The article also stated that “problem for VW is that everyone took it seriously, creating confusion about the company’s intentions and moving the shares[.]” Due to the earlier news, the article stated “[i]n the U.S., the company’s American depositary receipts rose as much as 12% Tuesday before sliding near the close after the company confirmed the name change was a joke, closing up 9%.”

Shares of Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY) declined from $48.72 per share on March 17, 2021, to $30.45 per share on May 5, 2021.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY) common shares between March 29, 2021 and March 30, 2021, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between March 29, 2021 and March 30, 2021, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that “Voltswagen” was never going to be used by the Volkswagen, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (“VWoA”), or on any relevant vehicle, that Volkswagen, VWoA, and their spokespeople purposefully misled reporters regarding the now-purported “joke” and/or “promotion”, and that as a result, Defendants’ public statements and statements to journalists were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.