In September 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused German automaker Volkswagen of fitting more than 11 million vehicles with illegal software that caused vehicles to emit reduced amounts of toxic nitrogen oxide when detecting they were being tested but that actually emitted more than 40 times the legal standard of gases when not being tested. These “defeat cheat” devices, along with Volkswagen’s reactionary crisis communication, proved to have detrimental financial, global, and environmental ramifications on the corporation. The automaker’s deception also led to a loss of consumer trust in Volkswagen’s vow to behave as a good corporate citizen. After recalling more than 8.5 million vehicles, ceasing the sale of numerous diesel vehicles in the U.S, and seeing its first quarterly loss in 15 years, Volkswagen managed to regain its title as number one carmaker in the world, despite scrambling to find answers to the company’s worst crisis in its 79-year history. This study examines media coverage of Volkswagen’s communication of its emissions crisis to key stakeholder groups and the effects of that communication on the company’s reputation as a corporate citizen.