He said Volkswagen finally admitted to U.S. regulators last month that hidden software installed in certain diesel vehicles “could recognize whether a vehicle was being operated in a test laboratory or on the road”, emitting higher levels of pollution outside the lab.
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“Our immediate goal is to develop a remedy for our customers”, said Horn, but he declined to release the timetable for the company to make the remedy when Dianna DeGette, Representative from Colorado asked him.
Mr Horn’s appearance on Capitol Hill comes after prosecutors searched VW headquarters in Germany on Thursday in an attempt to establish who authorised the software.
“Let me be very clear – we at Volkswagen take full responsibility for our actions and are working with all the relevant authorities in a co-operative way”. The vehicles would reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide during testing and then spew 40 times the legal limit during normal use.
‘These events are deeply troubling. He told the committee that he learned about a “possible emissions non-compliance” issue in spring 2014.
“The American public are not crash-test dummies and should not be treated as such”, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, said, adding that he believes there’s a “pervasive culture of corruption” in the auto industry.
“We will fully support the prosecutor’s office with its investigation into the facts of the case and into the people responsible to swiftly and completely get to the bottom of the matter”, Volkswagen said in an e-mailed statement.
He will be grilled about how much he knew about emissions cheating and when.
VW was able to fool the EPA because the agency only tested the cars on treadmill-like devices called dynamometers and did not use portable test equipment on real roads.
That is a total of 482,000 vehicles that will require a hardware fix and not just updated software in the U.S. Fuel economy on these vehicles is expected to be maintained though engine power might end up taking a hit along with top speed.
The company’s new chief executive Matthias Mueller said earlier this week that VW, which has already set aside €6.5bn to cover the costs of the scandal, was reviewing all its investment plans. About 11 million Volkswagen cars are affected worldwide, raising the ire of customers, dealers and regulators. EPA, CARB, the U.S. Department of Justice, State Attorneys General, as well as other authorities, are fulfilling their duties to investigate this matter.
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He also said there would be open communication with customers in the future “in the hope of making things right” but was aware that actions would be more powerful than words in turning around this damaging situation.
