The SEC is reportedly looking into Volkswagen's botched 'Voltswagen' April Fools' prank

• US regulators are looking into Volkswagen's "Voltswagen" stunt from March, Der Spiegel reports.
• The early April Fools' Day prank was taken seriously by many in the media and on Wall Street.
• Volkswagen declined to comment. The SEC did not respond to questions.

Volkswagen's botched April Fools' Day prank may have landed it in hot water with financial regulators, German outlet Der Spiegel reported Thursday.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is examining how Volkswagen of America's bogus press release announcing a rebrand to "Voltswagen" - well before the April 1 holiday - impacted its share price, the paper reported.

A representative from the Volkswagen Group in Germany declined to comment on Friday.

On March 29, Volkswagen briefly posted an unfinished press release announcing plans to rename in the US to "Voltswagen of America" as a nod to its electric-vehicle ambitions. The announcement said that battery-powered Volkswagen vehicles would come with Voltswagen badging.

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The following day, March 30, after several outlets had reported the news, the brand posted what appeared to be the finished release announcing the change. The new release included quotes from Volkswagen of America's CEO and didn't have any of the tongue-in-cheek cues normally found in corporate April Fools' jokes.

But Volkswagen then retracted the release, saying it was intended to be an early April Fools' Day stunt aimed at drumming up awareness of its first US-market EV, the ID.4 crossover.

Some on Wall Street took the announcement at face value. Volkswagen's stock popped by more than 10% at one point on the day of the release, and investment firm Wedbush Securities issued a bullish note on the news.

Representatives from the SEC did not immediately return a request for comment.