The Impact of Environmental Sustainability Measures on The Global Influence of The German Auto Industry
Abstract
After the Volkswagen AG Emission Crisis, the automobile industry took special measures in terms of marketing, business management and other managerial sides. This research aims to measure the after-crisis period and whether or not other companies take necessary financial measures toward environmental sustainability. Basic OLS Regression and OLS Regression with dummy variables are utilized on the market-adjusted financial returns of the companies. There are three important findings of this research. Volkswagen AG suffered from the emission crisis not only on the marketing side but also in terms of financial management. Secondly, Mercedes AG and BMW AG did not take the necessary financial lessons from the Volkswagen Emission Crisis because of the same results. And thirdly sustainability variables have an impact on financial management near reputation and brand management. According to findings and discussions, the behaviour of the investors toward the emission scandals is negative. They are comprehensively impacted by these events. The situation can be more complex if corporal investors are added to this equation. Also, It seems that Mercedes AG and BMW AG did not take the necessary lessons from the emission scandal of Volkswagen AG despite of 3 years between events in terms of corporal financial management and automobile-technical details. More interestingly, sustainability or environmental sustainability is one of the main elements not only for the marketing and branding sides of the business but also for the financial management side of corporal management. The sustainability policies of these brands should include financial management. This situation will help the investors and companies if a new sustainability crisis occurs in the market with exact information.
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