For Carolin , as for many Germans, the Volkswagen emissions scandal is personal.

和许多德国人一样，卡罗琳圠德尔(Carolin )也认为大众汽车(Volkswagen)的尾气造假丑闻影响到了个人。

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.

这位年轻的慈善工作者在德国金融之都法兰克福市中心发表演讲时表示：“这件事是灾难性的。我感到失望。大众和其他（德国汽车制造商）是我觉得可以信任的公司，但大众破坏了我心目中的这一形象。”

“It’s hurt their business, it’s hurt their image, and ultimately it has also hurt people,” she adds.

她补充称：“这伤害了他们的业务，伤害了他们的形象，最终也伤害了人们。”

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.

很多人都抱这种观点，尽管不是所有人。德国媒体几乎一致警告称，大众多年来在美国汽车尾气检测中作弊一事曝光，可能会影响世人对“德国制造”的看法——德国以产品优质闻名于世，尤其是在制造业。

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.”

德国发行量最大的小报《图片报》(Bild)本周刊载的一篇社论称，“德国之所以伟大，系于我们的工程技术——以及对我们机器制造商的信任……现在，这种信任直接处于危险之中”。

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.

从德国总理安格拉默克尔(Angela Merkel)往下的各级政治领导人都呼吁大众迅速采取补救行动——这么做的一大原因是要保护其他德国公司的良好声誉。

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.”

德国经济部长西格马尔加布里尔(Sigmar Gabriel)表示：“我们担心，德国汽车业——尤其是大众——无可非议的卓越声誉正在遭受损害。”

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.

一些营销专家也认为，丑闻的影响很容易扩散至大众以外的公司。周三，大众首席执行官辞职。德国另外两家旗帜性工程企业宝马(BMW)和戴姆勒(Daimler)也生产柴油引擎汽车——柴油车正是此次丑闻事件的核心。

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.”

柏林自由大学(Free University)营销学教授多琳皮克(Doreen Pick)明显属于悲观派，她说：“我认为这将严重破坏‘德国制造’的形象。（大众）在德国是顶尖的同义词——代表着诚实、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.”

她补充称：“真正重要的是，德国人是否会因为自己拥有一辆大众车、或因为相信这里的环境已遭到污染，而认为这起事件影响到了他们个人。”

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，揭露大众作弊的美国当局发起的猛烈法律攻击，可能会让德国人产生“轻微的爱国/防御性”反应。“人们会问，为什么并不真正关心环境的美国人要攻击一家德国公司。”

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.

还有人认为，从过往经验来看，哪怕是最严重的丑闻，只要应对得当，企业也可以平安度过，而且肇事公司以外的企业很少会因为受到牵连而声誉受损。

“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.

瑞士圣加仑大学(University of St Gallen)营销研究所负责人斯文克(Sven Reinecke)表示：“这桩丑闻给大众造成了伤害，但完全没有损害‘德国制造’。国家形象是非常持久的。人们现在仍将德国与希特勒(Hitler)以及默克尔联系在一起。你可以看出一种形象要多久才能改变。”

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.”

他补充称：“就大众本身来说，这取决于它如何处理这起事件。如果应对不当，那就会毁掉其品牌，但如果应对得体，就不会。”

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.

过去曾有多家德国企业在遇到危机后，通过整顿管理层，重新获得了投资者和客户的信任。

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，德国化学品集团拜耳(Bayer)热销的降胆固醇药物拜斯亭(Lipobay)被发现有严重副作用，这让该公司遭受巨大冲击。拜耳拿出11亿美元和解了近3000起诉讼，撤换了管理层，并全面重组业务。如今拜耳是德国市值最高的公司。

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.

电器集团西门子(Siemens)在2006年被曝出设立贿赂基金行贿以赢取合同之后，不得不支付20亿美元罚款和咨询费用。相关调查撼动了该公司的核心，导致数十位高层离职和合规制度的改革。

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，美国指控称，戴姆勒在海外系统性贿赂官员，该公司不得不支付近2亿美元罚款了结这些指控。戴姆勒为此还指定一位前德国法官进入董事会负责“廉正和法律事务”。

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.

大众从自身经历中也知道丑闻会对一家公司造成什么伤害。2008年，一名前大众劳工领袖在一起贿赂丑闻中被认定有罪，结果被判处监禁。此人被判定收受了近200万欧元非法奖金，之前的一项调查还显示，大众用公司资金支付公司工会领导人招妓和度假的费用。

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.

那起事件并没有让大众停下努力超越丰田(Toyota)成为全球最大汽车制造商的脚步。但眼下这起丑闻要严重得多，因为它直接影响到了数百万客户。

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研究所的马丁高尼希教授(Martin Gornig)表示：“如果大众能够解释清楚，它就仍能将损害控制在一定范围内。”