Cause - Then
In the early 1980s, consumers had complained to Audi about a sudden acceleration problem in their Audi 5000 vehicles (Wathen, 1987). As a result, in March 1986, the Center for Auto Safety submitted a petition to Audi of America, requesting the recall of all 1978 through 1986 Audi 5000 models for the dangerous malfunction. Later that year, on November 23, 1986, the popular CBS television program 60 Minutes aired a report titled “Out of Control” highlighting the case of Kristi Bardosky. She alleged that her Audi 5000 suddenly surged forward in her garage, killing her young son, Joshua (Dezenhall & Weber, 2007). During the report, CBS showed a clip of a driverless Audi lurching forward on its own. What viewers did not see was a canister …show more content…
The company publicly denounced the CBS program for news manipulation. Audi executives believed that had the manipulation been revealed, the impact of the CBS theory would have been lessened. By January 1987, Audi was forced to take more decisive action and recalled 25,000 of the 5000 series to install an idle stabilizer that required the driver to place a foot on the brake pedal before shifting gears. Audi also announced that they were renaming the Audi 5000 and as of 1988, the car would be known as the Audi 100, a name the car started under in Europe (Wathen, 1987). Within a year and a half following the CBS broadcast, Audi was plagued with huge financial losses and faced hundreds of court cases from its customers and dealers. In January 1988, Audi of America appointed Richard Mugg as its new executive vice president. His first priority on taking over the company was to calm rebellious dealers who were worried that the company had lost control of the situation (Holusha, …show more content…
In 1988, Richard Mugg was reluctant to file suit against 60 Minutes because he was unsure of its grounds until an investigation of the accidents was completed. Audi's philosophy at the time was that it should take a low-key approach (Holusha, 1988). However, due to various recent media fiascos, news organizations are more self-critical. This provides Audi the opportunity to launch litigation against CBS and the producers at 60 Minutes due to its misleading report and for the damage it caused to its reputation (Dezenhall & Weber,
In the early 1980s, consumers had complained to Audi about a sudden acceleration problem in their Audi 5000 vehicles (Wathen, 1987). As a result, in March 1986, the Center for Auto Safety submitted a petition to Audi of America, requesting the recall of all 1978 through 1986 Audi 5000 models for the dangerous malfunction. Later that year, on November 23, 1986, the popular CBS television program 60 Minutes aired a report titled “Out of Control” highlighting the case of Kristi Bardosky. She alleged that her Audi 5000 suddenly surged forward in her garage, killing her young son, Joshua (Dezenhall & Weber, 2007). During the report, CBS showed a clip of a driverless Audi lurching forward on its own. What viewers did not see was a canister …show more content…
The company publicly denounced the CBS program for news manipulation. Audi executives believed that had the manipulation been revealed, the impact of the CBS theory would have been lessened. By January 1987, Audi was forced to take more decisive action and recalled 25,000 of the 5000 series to install an idle stabilizer that required the driver to place a foot on the brake pedal before shifting gears. Audi also announced that they were renaming the Audi 5000 and as of 1988, the car would be known as the Audi 100, a name the car started under in Europe (Wathen, 1987). Within a year and a half following the CBS broadcast, Audi was plagued with huge financial losses and faced hundreds of court cases from its customers and dealers. In January 1988, Audi of America appointed Richard Mugg as its new executive vice president. His first priority on taking over the company was to calm rebellious dealers who were worried that the company had lost control of the situation (Holusha, …show more content…
In 1988, Richard Mugg was reluctant to file suit against 60 Minutes because he was unsure of its grounds until an investigation of the accidents was completed. Audi's philosophy at the time was that it should take a low-key approach (Holusha, 1988). However, due to various recent media fiascos, news organizations are more self-critical. This provides Audi the opportunity to launch litigation against CBS and the producers at 60 Minutes due to its misleading report and for the damage it caused to its reputation (Dezenhall & Weber,