Case Analysis #1: Volkswagen and the Engine Emissions Tests PR Crisis
ϖ Main problems: In September 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that VW cars being sold in America had a “defeat device”, or a type of software program, in diesel engines (TDI) that could detect when they were being tested. It was found that the car maker intended on changing the performance of the vehicles to improve results, making them more enviormentally-friendly. On September 18, the EPA issued a “notice of violation” of the Clean Air Act to the Volkswagen Group. Leading up to this, Volkswagen had a major urge to sell diesel cars in the US, with the help of a huge marketing campaign announcing its cars' low emissions. The EPA's discoveries cover over 400,000 cars only in the US, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW models: Beetle, Jetta, Passat and Golf. However, VW admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide, including eight million in Europe, have the so-called "defeat device". So, what makes this all even matter? According to BBC, the engines that were being improved during the tests went on to emit nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.
ϖ Key publics: Obviously, this effects all of the people who did purchase one of these cars. Because of this emissions scandal, Volkswagen agreed to recall over 8 million cars in Europe, 2.4 million in Germany, 1.2 million in the United Kingdom and 500,000 in the US. ϖ Response strategy: Besides for setting aside 6.5 billion euros to cover the costs of recalls and launching an internal inquiry for all employees, Volkswagen America boss Michael Horn immediately released a statement saying, “we’ve totally screwed up.” Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn ended up resigning as a result of the scandal, saying the company had “broken the trust of our customers and the public.” He went on to publicly apologize twice. The former boss of Porsche, Matthias Mueller, took over Winterkorn’s position soon after; "My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group - by leaving no stone unturned,” said Mueller. However, following his remarks, Mueller spoke briefly with NPR, claiming that VW did not actually lie to U.S. regulators about the emissions problems with its diesel engines. Instead, they played it off as a misunderstanding of U.S. law. “We didn't lie. We didn't understand the question first. And then we worked since 2014 to solve the problem. And we did it together and it was a default of VW that it needed such a long time,” Mueller said. This caused more problems for VW because even though they apologized for “cheating,” they didn’t necessarily take full responsibility for it. ϖ Media coverage: Majority of the coverage for the VW emissions scandal was negative, probably because of the lack of the engagement by the company on social media. …show more content…
It was frustrating for customers to get in touch with the company, as well as express how they felt about the entire crisis.
1. On September 22, VW published a tweet directing people to an online apology video by Volkswagen’s recently resigned CEO, Martin Winterkorn. This was the only official statement published on their social media accounts: https://www.volkswagen-media-services.com/en/detailpage/-/detail/Video-statement-Prof-Dr-Martin-Winterkorn-English/view/2718368/7a5bbec13158edd433c6630f5ac445da?p_p_auth=9iRucc6i 2. When VW launched http://vwdieselinfo.com on September 27 the only social media accounts
ϖ Main problems: In September 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that VW cars being sold in America had a “defeat device”, or a type of software program, in diesel engines (TDI) that could detect when they were being tested. It was found that the car maker intended on changing the performance of the vehicles to improve results, making them more enviormentally-friendly. On September 18, the EPA issued a “notice of violation” of the Clean Air Act to the Volkswagen Group. Leading up to this, Volkswagen had a major urge to sell diesel cars in the US, with the help of a huge marketing campaign announcing its cars' low emissions. The EPA's discoveries cover over 400,000 cars only in the US, including the VW-manufactured Audi A3, and the VW models: Beetle, Jetta, Passat and Golf. However, VW admitted that about 11 million cars worldwide, including eight million in Europe, have the so-called "defeat device". So, what makes this all even matter? According to BBC, the engines that were being improved during the tests went on to emit nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times above what is allowed in the US.
ϖ Key publics: Obviously, this effects all of the people who did purchase one of these cars. Because of this emissions scandal, Volkswagen agreed to recall over 8 million cars in Europe, 2.4 million in Germany, 1.2 million in the United Kingdom and 500,000 in the US. ϖ Response strategy: Besides for setting aside 6.5 billion euros to cover the costs of recalls and launching an internal inquiry for all employees, Volkswagen America boss Michael Horn immediately released a statement saying, “we’ve totally screwed up.” Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn ended up resigning as a result of the scandal, saying the company had “broken the trust of our customers and the public.” He went on to publicly apologize twice. The former boss of Porsche, Matthias Mueller, took over Winterkorn’s position soon after; "My most urgent task is to win back trust for the Volkswagen Group - by leaving no stone unturned,” said Mueller. However, following his remarks, Mueller spoke briefly with NPR, claiming that VW did not actually lie to U.S. regulators about the emissions problems with its diesel engines. Instead, they played it off as a misunderstanding of U.S. law. “We didn't lie. We didn't understand the question first. And then we worked since 2014 to solve the problem. And we did it together and it was a default of VW that it needed such a long time,” Mueller said. This caused more problems for VW because even though they apologized for “cheating,” they didn’t necessarily take full responsibility for it. ϖ Media coverage: Majority of the coverage for the VW emissions scandal was negative, probably because of the lack of the engagement by the company on social media. …show more content…
It was frustrating for customers to get in touch with the company, as well as express how they felt about the entire crisis.
1. On September 22, VW published a tweet directing people to an online apology video by Volkswagen’s recently resigned CEO, Martin Winterkorn. This was the only official statement published on their social media accounts: https://www.volkswagen-media-services.com/en/detailpage/-/detail/Video-statement-Prof-Dr-Martin-Winterkorn-English/view/2718368/7a5bbec13158edd433c6630f5ac445da?p_p_auth=9iRucc6i 2. When VW launched http://vwdieselinfo.com on September 27 the only social media accounts