Comment: Another VW PR disaster

There are some who believe any news is good news, no matter how bad it is.

But a fortnight of bad news revolving around Volkswagen and its emission cheating scandal is nothing but bad news for the German brand.

It is a global public relations disaster, and one that will have long-term ramifications on the company's financial status, its perception as a trustworthy corporation and, potentially, its status as the world's largest car making group.

While the root cause of the issue – a pre-meditated effort to cheat emission output tests in the United States with two of its diesel engines – is scandalous and fraudulent, the reaction from customers at least here in Australia is intriguingly less intense than when the company was embroiled in its last public relations disaster when faulty dual-clutch gearboxes forced the brand to recall more than 26,000 cars locally.

Back then, Volkswagen Australia initially refused to take responsibility for the problem, claiming it did not affect cars sold in Australia despite Fairfax Media and Drive being inundated with disgruntled customers who had experienced the problem or were concerned about the long-term reliability of their vehicles.

Volkswagen Australia has played this one slightly differently, being dictated more by a global edict to provide little official comment while investigations continue to try to understand whether cars sold here have the cheating software installed. There is no doubt they do, as popular cars such as the Golf hatchback and Passat sedan that are already confirmed to have it installed in overseas markets are generally built to cater for all regions, with minor modifications that are required to meet local design regulations.

Interestingly, VW's sister brand Audi has taken a more pro-active approach. While the brand officially confirmed it was involved in the problem from a global perspective on Tuesday, its Australian arm took less than a day to confirm to the media that cars sold in Australia featured the emission-cheating software. It is expected that Volkswagen will follow suit shortly.

Audi admitted that it was yet to understand the "full effect" of how many vehicles were directly affected. But more importantly – and VW should take notice of this point in particular – the German brand's Australian spokeswoman Anna Burgdorf didn't just leave it at that. She reiterated how important its customers were to the well-being of the brand, and said Audi would inform owners and government officials of any rectification process that needed to be undertaken.

In reality, Audi didn't say much more than Volkswagen, but the simple fact it acknowledged the concerns of its customers and outlined a communication plan is a simple and effective way to diffuse any paranoia among those who have invested in the brand.