Four years ago Volkswagen was caught with more than its hand in the cookie jar – it had been faking emission tests on its diesel vehicles for years. People who thought that they were driving clean cars found out it was just the opposite.
The company pled guilty to felony charges, costing it tens of billions of dollars and untold damage to its brand. In a rising market, VW’s stock price dropped from $27 to $10 a share.
A few feel good commercials, like Wells Fargo and other corporate miscreants have run, isn’t going to be enough. But time and a new, all-electric van…? Well, maybe.
This summer VW announced that it was working on an all-electric relaunch of its famous van. The commercial even acknowledges the company’s past crimes.
Actions speak louder than words. The new van won’t be available until 2022, so we’ll see. But that could turn around the brand far better than a few commercials.
PS: Reader Dan Greenberg responded to this piece. He notes that this is not just an advertising strategy, it is the tip of a complete re-orientation of VW’s line to ultimately being all-electric. He wrote me, “It is, in fact, one of the boldest strategic shifts of a large company ever. They are taking the opportunity – and I think they see it as an opportunity – to shift the company from diesel (which is a dying market as European cities and other places outlaw it) to electric.” They will have 20-some models coming out over the next several years, and their Porsche subsidiary has a Taycan sports car that can go 0 to 60 in 2.6 seconds
