Photo Source: http://www.gocomics.com/jeffstahler/2015/09/23

 

Nearly two months after news broke about the Volkswagen emissions scandal which has now been dubbed the “diesel dupe” we are still hearing about the company was found to be altering their emission output when tested, making the car seem more eco-friendly in the results. This has clearly had a detrimental effect on Volkswagen, who’s stock fell by 20% on the first business day after they admitted to cheating on emissions tests. Furthermore, other brands under the Volkswagen group such as Audi, Porsche and Skoda have been involved the scandal, resulting in even more recalls.

 

Graph Source: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=VOW.DE#symbol=VOW.DE;range=1m

 

Using the tools discussed in Comm 101,  the Urgency-Importance matrix proved to be beneficial when discussing an event such as the Volkswagen Scandal.

Table Source: Catherine Hackwell using Microsoft Word

 

As can be seen, the diagram is heavily weighted towards the high urgency and high importance region of the table, showing how significant the scandal is.

 

Martin Winterkorn stated to CBC “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public.” However, it must be hard for consumer to trust this statement, as Volkswagen was very comfortable lying about emissions until the truth came to the surface.

 

Sources:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/volkswagen-emissions-rigging-1.3236548