German engineering brings to mind technical prowess and reliability. But a scandal over Volkswagen cheating diesel emission tests isn't just eroding the carmaker's brand image, it's threatening the cherished 'Made in Germany' label. And the handling of the crisis is denting it further.

Where once buying a car meant travelling to a dealership and speaking directly with forecourt dwellers, this is changing. It is estimated that at least 2,800 dealerships could disappear in the US alone by 2020. So in 2014, how exactly are people going about purchasing a new set of wheels?

Though many auto manufacturers and analysts claim that electric vehicles are the future of the car industry, they account for just 0.1% of global sales at present, with low fuel prices causing a slowdown. Is the EV dream fading, or is this just a blip in an inevitable electric revolution?

Leaked emails, investigative reports, employees on social media – in an emerging culture of transparency, organisations are finding mistakes ever harder to hide. What does science tell us about when an apology is appropriate and how they're best handled by organisations?