The company is terminating its contracdt for .volkswagen.
Volkswagen Group of America Inc. is cancelling its top level domain name, .volkswagen.
The automaker informed ICANN that it hasn’t put the domain name to use and does not need it. It came to this conclusion seven years after the string was delegated.
Volkswagen’s Chinese subsidiary also got a dot-brand top level domain name, but it canceled the contract for that domain in 2021.
The carmaker joins a growing list of companies that have recently canceled dot-brand top level domain names, including CBS, Ferrero, Tiffany, and Northwestern Mutual.
Consultants claim that many brand owners are interested in applying in the next round of top level domains, which will open for applications in 2026 or later. But given the lackluster track record of companies that obtained these domains a decade ago, I have my doubts.
There will absolutely be a large amount of brands who apply when the application period opens.
You have to keep in mind that .brand TLDs are not a source of income for corporations so if their internal strategy changes and their .brand does not fit in then it’s understandable that they would cancel it.
It’s not like a generic TLD being sold to the public where that is the only source of income for the registry.
As internal corporate strategies are always in flux, you will have some that cancel their TLD. On the other side, there are plenty of corporations who have not had a chance in the past 10 years to apply for their TLD and are ready to do so once the application period opens.