CINCINNATI—How far can a company’s reputation slide following a major scandal such as the one at Wells Fargo?
Swapalease.com data shows the fall can be big. In the wake of the Wells Fargo’s incident in which employees created more than two-million fake accounts, the lease exchange website examined how interest in Volkswagen vehicles continues to markedly fall one year after its emissions scandal.
The Volkswagen emissions scandal emerged in September 2015 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to Volkswagen Group after it was found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection diesel engines to activate certain emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing, leaving the engines emitting much more harmful exhaust gas during regular driving.
Swapalease.com looked at total search volume as a percent on its national online lease marketplace and found that Volkswagen search volume has dropped from 0.81% to 0.56% from September 2015 – August 2016.
“We still get inquiries from customers interested in either taking over a Volkswagen or to list a Volkswagen, but clearly the volume has dropped since the beginning of the scandal,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of Swapalease.com. “We believe the Volkswagen brand will survive this current scandal since it remains a strong brand, but there will need to be some compelling reason other than the brand name itself that lures more interest back to vehicles in the marketplace.”