PR professionals say that coming clean is the only way VW might be able to save itself

VolkswagenAutomotive giant Volkswagen has seen millions of dollars wiped off its brand value since it emerged that it had faked emissions tests in the US. Mumbrella’s Miranda Ward asked public relations professionals how the company should move forward in its attempts to try to save its brand. 

PR professionals are agreed on one thing – Volkswagen, once synonymous with quality amongst consumers, is facing the biggest crisis in its history thanks to its emissions scandal. But what they don’t agree about is how to save the brand.

Shares in the German automotive brand have plundged by around 35 per cent since it admitted to the fakery, wiping more than $39b from its market value.

The scandal, which revealed that the car giant had installed devices in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested for emissions output, changing the performance accordingly to improve results, has seen Volkswagen recall almost 500,000 cars in the US alone, with the situation being monitored in Australia with the the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission beginning its own investigation.

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