NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Volkswagen AG (“Volkswagen” or the “Company”) (OTCMKTS: VWAGY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, and docketed under 22-cv-00045, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Volkswagen American depositary receipts (“ADRs”) between March 29, 2021 and March 30, 2021, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violation of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired ADRs of Volkswagen during the Class Period, you have until March 15, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Volkswagen AG (known internationally as the Volkswagen Group) is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Scania, and MAN. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity on the market. The product spectrum ranges from motorcycles to small cars and luxury vehicles. Defendant Volkswagen AG operates 118 production plants in 20 European countries and 10 countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Volkswagen AG sells its vehicles in 153 countries.
Volkswagen AG is a German corporation with its principal executive offices in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen’s ADRs trade over-the-counter under the ticker symbol “VWAGY.” Defendant Volkswagen AG is the parent corporation and sole owner of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Volkswagen AG directly controls and directs the actions of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., which acts as its agent in the United States.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. It operates a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee and houses the U.S. operations of Volkswagen’s brands including Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company has approximately 8,000 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through a 1,000-strong dealer network.
On March 29, 2021, Volkswagen published a “draft” of a press release on its website for a short time with the incorrect date of “April 29,” announcing its purported name change from “Volkswagen” to “Voltswagen.”
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Volkswagen’s business and operations. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the name “Voltswagen” was never going to be used by the Company’s U.S. subsidiary; (ii) the Company and its spokespeople purposefully misled reporters, even after the reporters’ inquiries about whether the name change was an April Fool’s joke; and (iii) as a result, Defendants’ public statements and statements to journalists were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.
On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, still two days before April Fool’s Day on April 1, The Wall Street Journal (“WSJ”) reported that a spokesman for the Company in Wolfsburg, Germany stated that “[t]he whole thing was just a marketing action to get people talking about the ID.4.” The WSJ also quoted a Company’s official back in Germany: “[t]here will be no name change.”
On March 31, 2021, Agence France-Presse (“AFP”) quoted Volkswagen AG’s spokesman, Deputy Head of Corporate Communication, Christoph Ludewig: “Volkswagen of America developed . . . a national US marketing campaign, with a wink, to draw attention to Volkswagen’s e-offensive. From the start, the goal was to generate attention for an important corporate and industry topic in the USA. The large amount of positive feedback on social media shows we achieved this goal. At the same time, we regret if in the eyes of some, we overshot the mark of the campaign.” AFP also reported that “[r]eporters reacted angrily to the stunt, with some pointing out that it was tone-deaf coming from a company still recovering from the 2015 ‘dieselgate’ scandal, when Volkswagen was forced to admit it had for years used cheating software in cars to dupe emissions tests.” Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director of AFP, wrote to the Company to protest against the deception, stating: “We understand when a spokesperson is not in a position to confirm or comment on a piece of information. But we never expect them to make false statements. We strongly think serious journalists and news outlets should not be used by companies like Volkswagen for marketing and advertising purposes. For us it is a very grave breach of trust which must not be repeated.”
The price of Volkswagen ADRs plummeted on this news, falling 3.84%, or $1.45 per share, to close at $36.3 per share on March 31, 2021 (from a closing price of $37.75 per share on March 30, 2021), damaging investors.
On April 1, 2021, Forbes published an article, entitled “Volkswagen’s April Fools’ Stunt Misses the Mark—and an Opportunity to Earn Back Trust,” which similarly criticized Volkswagen AG’s purported name change.
The price of Volkswagen ADRs continued to fall as the market continued to process the news about the purported name change. The Company’s ADR price fell 1.98%, or $0.72 per share, to close at $35.58 per share on April 1, 2021 (from a closing price of $36.3 per share on March 31, 2021), damaging investors.
In total, Volkswagen’s ADR price fell by $2.17 per share, or 5.75%, over the course of two trading days from March 31, 2021 through April 1, 2021, damaging investors.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com
888-476-6529 ext. 7980
