VW to tweak logo for electric- car era
Volkswagen AG plans to tweak the namesake VW brand’s logo for the first time since 2012, as it prepares for the electric-car era and tries to burnish an image tarnished by the diesel-cheating scandal.
The new logo will be unveiled next year, in time for the German carmaker’s plans for an aggressive rollout of electric vehicles, Jochen Sengpiehl, the brand’s chief marketing officer, said Monday at a press briefing in Berlin. In a sign of the times, it’ll be updated to work on car fronts as well as smartphone screens, he said. VW’s emblem, last tweaked six years ago with a more three-dimensional look, has changed only modestly since the manufacturer’s resurrection after World War II.
“The brand is not in good shape compared to previous years,” as the marque lost some of its emotional appeal by trying to be “too German,” said Sengpiehl. “It’s not only because of the diesel scandal.”
VW will also expand the use of digital and social media to more finely tune its marketing, especially as it seeks to convince skeptical consumers to switch to battery-powered vehicles. Giving the brand a fresher image is key to making good on Volkswagen’s ^20 billion ($25 billion) push into electric cars.