VW was caught this year in huge scandal where they misrepresented the quality of their vehicles. VW admitted to having installed a device that could detect when the cars were being tested for emissions, making the cars perform better during testing. That device has been installed in about 11 Million vehicles world wide. These "defeat devices" allowed for the sales of cars from VW that omit 4x's over the accepted limit of omissions in the US.
Attempt at Saving Their Image
In an attempt to save their image, Volkswagen let go of their chief executive Mr. Winterkorn and replaced him with former Porsche boss Matthias Mueller. Mueller released a statement saying that he would fix the mistake by "leaving no stone unturned". Nothing else has been said about their plans to fix this problem except that they will start recalls in January. This is not the best response to the crisis. The public wants to hear more!
If I were CEO of the company I would take into consideration that It going to take more than a little management change to clear the air of VW's enormous fail. In that sense they did not handle the crisis well. Consumers, activists, organizations and many other groups are outraged by the news. Their integrity is totally lost here. Obviously, I don't think it was wise for the company to come out and admit to all the allegations of intentionally installing these devices, but I don't think they had any other choice in the matter. I think that they are handling the issue of admittance in the best way possible considering what they have done. VW could have set up a better team to handle their crisis. Knowing that the company has been struggling with image issues for years now, they should have had a crisis management team ready to explain possible solutions and handle the public more efficiently by providing extensive explanations. How could you trust a company that so plainly admits to deceiving everyone for so long?
By having a crisis management team ready I would have taken advantage of message framing discussed in Public Relations the basics by Ron Smith. This is a method where time is key. By this I mean telling your story before the public tells your story for you so that you have "some level of control over how the story unfolds." Spinning this story in their in their favor is nearly impossible now.
By having a crisis management team ready I would have taken advantage of message framing discussed in Public Relations the basics by Ron Smith. This is a method where time is key. By this I mean telling your story before the public tells your story for you so that you have "some level of control over how the story unfolds." Spinning this story in their in their favor is nearly impossible now.