The day I stole onto a car lot to do a PTC without permission.

It’s 5 years since the biggest automotive scandal hit the airwaves: Dieselgate.

This was when it emerged that VW (and subsequently many other major carmakers) had deliberately misled would-be buyers about the level of CO2 and other emissions which would come out of their cars. It did this by installing a tiny ‘defeat device’ in order to trick the machine which measured emissions during a test.

It has cost the company tens of billions of Euros/Dollars/Pounds, the jobs of its top executives but most surprisingly of all NOT caused any long term damage to the brand. It remains the 2nd best selling car brand in the world.

The scandal was so big it quickly acquired its own ‘gate’ which is a badge of honour i guess in some circles.

For me as a journalist, it was a case study in how not to handle a PR crisis.

I woke up on Saturday morning the 19th of September on my first full day back after my own wedding in Italy the previous weekend. So I was a bit woolly and probably a few kilos heavier than I had been when last on air (weight watchers see photo above).

As a business correspondent I’m used to getting dozens of emails a day from PR firms, Government departments, assorted viewers and pressure groups advocating or complaining about this or that. On this warm autumn day, I got a ‘Breaking’ email from an environmental group. With the greatest respect to these groups, nearly everything is ‘breaking’ for them, even if for the rest of us the changes might be a bit more glacial (pun on climate change intended).

It said that the American watchdog for all things environmental: the EPA, had ordered Volkswagen to recall half a million of its cars due to the discovery of deliberate cheating on emissions tests. The EPA even was so helpful to us broadcasters as to have posted an audio statement explaining what these ‘defeat devices’ did in order to deceive testers in the US.

As with all things, a big story sometimes takes time to wake up. Like humans it needs its coffee. It took me a moment to realise that one of the biggest companies in the world had systematically misled consumers in order to sell cars. Given the safety risks attached to driving around in high speed vehicles, the automotive sector (just like any sector which transports people) is highly regulated and highly litigious. Once fully awake I realised that this was gonna cost VW billions.

My first question was whether VW had installed these cheating devices in Europe and most especially for BBC purposes, in the UK. So before I jumped on the tube into New Broadcasting House, I called the press office ‘Out of Hours’ number for VW UK. I left a clear message about the urgency of the matter and expected a call within an hour or so.

Under BBC’s strict Producers Guidelines, we should not broadcast a story about a company without consulting them and getting their side of it.

When I got into the BBC I sauntered over the Radio 4 news desk and casually offered them this story for their lunchtime bulletin at One, which surprisingly is the most listened to radio news bulletin of the entire week. Saturday mornings can often be quiet for hard news stories and so without knowing much more about the story, they bit my hand off.

Then I went to the output editor of the TV bulletins (known as the One, Six & Ten). I struck instant gold. He was a ‘petrol head’ and loved doing stories about anything that moved - especially if they moved fast.

“You had me at ‘I’ve a car related story’” he said. “Can you do ‘a live’ at noon? And make it relatable to a UK audience”

The problem now was getting a response from VW UK. I couldn't say whether it would affect cars sold in Britain, which would be the first thing VW owners would ask. So, being a fluent German speaker, I called the main VW in Wolfsburg in Germany. Again, voicemail. So I dashed off a slew of emails to the press contacts listed on the VW website. Bitte setzen Sie sich möglichst schnell in Verbindung.

Then I tried the big London based PR agencies who worked with VW or represented them to the media. They had nothing for me either because VW wasn't returning their calls either. “Just say, we decline to comment” came the catch-all response. So I had to go with that even though it might appear a bit suspicious to drivers because if the cheating was only in the US, why wouldn't VW HQ get that message out at least.

My next problem was doing a Piece to Camera (PTC) for my TV package at teatime (transmission time that day was 18:35). I had to do it at an official VW site somewhere in London so that viewers could see the cars and a big logo behind me. But we had no permission. I called the big dealerships in the UK and needless to say they were not keen to facilitate me doing a very negative story about the cars that they were trying to sell that very day on their forecourts. Even if they had wanted to let me film, they’d first need permission from VW UK which had gone underground.

VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn before the scandal broke

Undeterred I made my way to a well known VW seller in north London with a Cameraman. This had to be a smash and grab PTC. It could only be done in one take because in the 30 seconds it took to utter my words, someone on the car lot would spot me and alert security to throw us out and potentially call the police for trespassing.

We sat in the car as near as possible to where we wanted to do the PTC. I put on my lapel mic with a radio receiver on my belt. The cameraman did a ‘white balance with the giant HD camera on his lap in the front seat. He also had to know where I would stand and what would be in the shot as well as my exact words in advance. After I had rehearsed the PTC a few times, we checked that the coast was clear. And then like a military raid, we did a countdown to exit the car and assume our positions.

We both sprang out and took up our spots as agreed and I uttered my words. Thankfully I didn't forget them. No one approached us but the cameraman wanted one more take as he wasn't fully happy with the pulled focus shot that he had done then first time.

We got it in the can and walked briskly back to the car and drove off with high fives, as if we had just escaped from Alcatraz.

You tell me how it looked and whether I had indeed added a few lbs after my wedding holiday in Umbria.

It took 4 more days for VW to hold a press conference on the scandal.