大衆尾氣造假醜聞抹黑德國製造
For Carolin , as for many Germans, the Volkswagen emissions scandal is personal.
和許多德國人一樣，卡羅琳圠德爾(Carolin )也認爲大衆汽車(Volkswagen)的尾氣造假醜聞影響到了個人。
Speaking in the centre of Frankfurt, the country’s financial capital, the young charity worker says: “It’s catastrophic. I feel let down. VW and the other [German carmakers] were companies I felt I could believe in, but Volkswagen has ruined that image for me.
這位年輕的慈善工作者在德國金融之都法蘭克福市中心發表演講時表示：“這件事是災難性的。我感到失望。大衆和其他（德國汽車製造商）是我覺得可以信任的公司，但大衆破壞了我心目中的這一形象。”
“It’s hurt their business, it’s hurt their image, and ultimately it has also hurt people,” she adds.
她補充稱：“這傷害了他們的業務，傷害了他們的形象，最終也傷害了人們。”
Her opinion is widely — though not universally — shared. The German media are almost united in warning that the revelation that VW had been cheating on US emissions tests for years could affect the world’s opinion of “Made in Germany” — the country’s reputation for quality, especially in manufacturing.
很多人都抱這種觀點，儘管不是所有人。德國媒體幾乎一致警告稱，大衆多年來在美國汽車尾氣檢測中作弊一事曝光，可能會影響世人對“德國製造”的看法——德國以產品優質聞名於世，尤其是在製造業。
Bild, the top-selling tabloid, said this week in an editorial: “What has made Germany great is our engineering skill — and trust in our machine builders... is now directly at risk.”
德國發行量最大的小報《圖片報》(Bild)本週刊載的一篇社論稱，“德國之所以偉大，繫於我們的工程技術——以及對我們機器製造商的信任……現在，這種信任直接處於危險之中”。
Political leaders from chancellor Angela Merkel down have called on the company to take rapid remedial action, not least to protect the good name of other German companies.
從德國總理安格拉默克爾(Angela Merkel)往下的各級政治領導人都呼籲大衆迅速採取補救行動——這麼做的一大原因是要保護其他德國公司的良好聲譽。
Sigmar Gabriel, economy minister, said: “We are worried that the justifiably excellent reputation of the German car industry and in particular that of Volkswagen is suffering.”
德國經濟部長西格馬爾加布里爾(Sigmar Gabriel)表示：“我們擔心，德國汽車業——尤其是大衆——無可非議的卓越聲譽正在遭受損害。”
Some marketing experts agree that damage from the scandal could easily extend far beyond VW, where the chief executive resigned on Wednesday. BMW and Daimler, two other standard bearers for German engineering, also produce cars with diesel engines — the vehicles at the heart of the affair.
一些營銷專家也認爲，醜聞的影響很容易擴散至大衆以外的公司。週三，大衆首席執行官辭職。德國另外兩家旗幟性工程企業寶馬(BMW)和戴姆勒(Daimler)也生產柴油引擎汽車——柴油車正是此次醜聞事件的核心。
Doreen Pick, marketing professor at Berlin’s Free University, is firmly in the pessimistic camp. “I think this will very badly damage the image of ‘Made in Germany’. [VW] stands as a synonym for what’s best in Germany — honesty, reliability and efficiency.”
柏林自由大學(Free University)營銷學教授多琳皮克(Doreen Pick)明顯屬於悲觀派，她說：“我認爲這將嚴重破壞‘德國製造’的形象。（大衆）在德國是頂尖的同義詞——代表着誠實、可靠和高效。”
She adds: “What really matters is whether Germans see this as affecting them personally because they have a VW car or because they believe that the environment here has been polluted.”
她補充稱：“真正重要的是，德國人是否會因爲自己擁有一輛大衆車、或因爲相信這裏的環境已遭到污染，而認爲這起事件影響到了他們個人。”
However, she notes that a strong legal assault from the US authorities, who uncovered the cheating, could prompt Germans into “a bit of a patriotic/defensive” reaction. “People will ask why the Americans, who don’t really care about the environment, are attacking a German institution.”
但她也指出，揭露大衆作弊的美國當局發起的猛烈法律攻擊，可能會讓德國人產生“輕微的愛國/防禦性”反應。“人們會問，爲什麼並不真正關心環境的美國人要攻擊一家德國公司。”
Others argue that history shows companies can weather even the biggest scandals as long as they respond properly, and that reputational damage rarely extends beyond the culprit business.
還有人認爲，從過往經驗來看，哪怕是最嚴重的醜聞，只要應對得當，企業也可以平安度過，而且肇事公司以外的企業很少會因爲受到牽連而聲譽受損。
“This scandal damages VW but does not damage ‘Made in Germany’ at all. Images of countries are very long-lasting. People still associate Germany with Hitler, as well as with Merkel. You can see how long it takes to change an image,” says Sven Reinecke, director of the marketing institute at Switzerland’s St Gallen University.
瑞士聖加侖大學(University of St Gallen)營銷研究所負責人斯文克(Sven Reinecke)表示：“這樁醜聞給大衆造成了傷害，但完全沒有損害‘德國製造’。國家形象是非常持久的。人們現在仍將德國與希特勒(Hitler)以及默克爾聯繫在一起。你可以看出一種形象要多久才能改變。”
He adds: “As for VW itself, it depends on how it handles the affair. If they do it badly it will destroy the brand, but if they do it well, then not.”
他補充稱：“就大衆本身來說，這取決於它如何處理這起事件。如果應對不當，那就會毀掉其品牌，但如果應對得體，就不會。”
There are plenty of examples of German companies that have been able to rebuild investor and customer confidence after a crisis and a management clear out.
過去曾有多家德國企業在遇到危機後，通過整頓管理層，重新獲得了投資者和客戶的信任。
Bayer, the German chemicals group, was rocked in 2001 when its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipobay was found to have serious side-effects. The company paid $1.1bn to settle nearly 3,000 cases, replaced management, comprehensively restructured its business and is now Germany’s biggest company by market value.
2001年，德國化學品集團拜耳(Bayer)熱銷的降膽固醇藥物拜斯亭(Lipobay)被發現有嚴重副作用，這讓該公司遭受巨大沖擊。拜耳拿出11億美元和解了近3000起訴訟，撤換了管理層，並全面重組業務。如今拜耳是德國市值最高的公司。
Siemens, the electronics group, had to shell out $2bn in fines and advisory payments after the 2006 discovery that slush funds were used to pay bribes to win contracts. The resulting probe shook the company to its core, led to the departure of dozens of senior managers and led to an overhaul of compliance systems.
電器集團西門子(Siemens)在2006年被曝出設立賄賂基金行賄以贏取合同之後，不得不支付20億美元罰款和諮詢費用。相關調查撼動了該公司的核心，導致數十位高層離職和合規制度的改革。
Daimler in 2010 paid almost $200m of penalties to settle US charges that it systematically paid bribes to officials in foreign countries. It responded by appointing a former German judge to its management board to look after “integrity and legal affairs”.
2010年，美國指控稱，戴姆勒在海外系統性賄賂官員，該公司不得不支付近2億美元罰款了結這些指控。戴姆勒爲此還指定一位前德國法官進入董事會負責“廉正和法律事務”。
VW knows from its own past how scandal can hurt a company. A former group labour leader was jailed in 2008 after being found guilty in a bribery scandal. He was convicted of accepting almost ㈠洀 in illegal bonuses after a probe that also revealed company cash was used to pay for prostitutes and holidays for VW union chiefs.
大衆從自身經歷中也知道醜聞會對一家公司造成什麼傷害。2008年，一名前大衆勞工領袖在一起賄賂醜聞中被認定有罪，結果被判處監禁。此人被判定收受了近200萬歐元非法獎金，之前的一項調查還顯示，大衆用公司資金支付公司工會領導人招妓和度假的費用。
That affair did not stop the group in its drive to try to replace Toyota as the world’s biggest carmaker. But the latest scandal is far more serious, as it affects millions of customers directly.
那起事件並沒有讓大衆停下努力超越豐田(Toyota)成爲全球最大汽車製造商的腳步。但眼下這起醜聞要嚴重得多，因爲它直接影響到了數百萬客戶。
Professor Martin Gornig, of Berlin’s DIW research institute, says: “If VW can clarify the situation, it can still limit the damage.”
柏林DIW研究所的馬丁高尼希教授(Martin Gornig)表示：“如果大衆能夠解釋清楚，它就仍能將損害控制在一定範圍內。”
