ID.3 Arlequin, Volkswagen’s Brilliant April Fools’ Joke

Every April 1st, it’s essential to distinguish between genuine information and fake news. This year, Volkswagen went all out.

A good April Fools’ joke primarily involves false information that sounds so convincing you’d want to believe it. As proof, our colleagues at AUTOhebdo stirred social media with the announcement of a third Ferrari in 2025 for Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Playful as any true Englishman should be, the Volkswagen UK communications manager announced directly on the manufacturer’s website the launch of a special ID.3 Harlequin series with electro-luminescent body panels. Why was it so credible? Because the Volkswagen Harlequin did indeed exist!

100% Credible

In the mid-1990s, Volkswagen’s designers, known for their seriousness, completely went overboard when marketing a special edition of the Polo. The concept? Pick up exterior panels in all the colors from the catalog and assemble them on the same car. It’s a bit like when you go to the junkyard to get a replacement panel for your car but can’t find the desired color. An announcement was made for 1,000 units of this Harlequin Polo, but ultimately, 4,000 colorful cars were sold like hotcakes, and even today, it’s a highly sought-after youngtimer collector’s item.

But let’s go even further back in time, to the 1960s, when Volkswagen USA imagined a Harlequin Beetle. This was a spectacular flop in terms of sales, but a brilliant communication move.

The technology of electro-luminescent body panels exists, as recently demonstrated by BMW with the BMW i5 Flow NOSTOKANA concept. This April Fools’ joke was therefore entirely credible, and who knows if such a special series wouldn’t have helped boost the small ID.3’s stagnant career. It’s not happening just yet, but it would be surprising if this concept didn’t have a quick follow-up…