Mr Horn said: “These events, and I fully agree on this, are deeply troubling”.
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The news comes just after Volkswagen’s American unit’s head Michael Horn disclosed about the installation of the second software in its diesel-powered cars and blamed “individuals” for using such a software in the cars.
Horn said he learnt in early 2014 of “a possible emissions non-compliance”, after researchers at the University of West Virginia found that VW cars it tested were releasing up to 40 times as much nitrogen oxide as was legally permissible. Credit Suisse has estimated it could hit $87 billion in a worst case – more than the cost of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
What might be worse than Horn simply pointing his finger at a group of software engineers was him insisting that he was unaware of Volkswagen cheating on USA emissions tests past year, even though the Journal reports that he heard of emissions-compliance issues as early as spring of 2014.
– CNN’s Chris Liakos contributed to this article.
The survey, carried out between September 17 and October. 9, showed the price of used VW diesel cars in Germany fell by 1.5 percent against the market, but Engelskirchen said this could be in line with daily volatility and not necessarily due to the scandal.
The testers duped the wheel sensors in to thinking the auto wasn’t driving.
Nick Molden, the chief executive Emissions Analytics which tests cars’ emissions and fuel consumption, hit out at the relationship between the bodies which check vehicles and manufacturers.
He said in an interview published Wednesday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that engine development is “a complex process” and that these were tasks in which “a director is not directly involved”.
Volkswagen must submit its plans this week to German authorities for the correction of thedefeat device software, which fooled testers into believing their cars comply with the environmental standards.
In a statement on Friday, the company also apologised for “any disappointment and inconvenience felt by our customers, staff, dealers and partners”.
Meanwhile, German police searched Volkswagen’s headquarters Thursday as part of the probe related to the emissions-rigging scandal revealed in the United States.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, asked Horn if he believed that senior level corporate managers had no knowledge of the software, which was first installed on cars for the 2009 model year.
But it won’t happen overnight: Horn said that the full recall could take at least one to two years to complete, notes The Verge. He said that each generation of the engine requires a different remedy and that VW technical teams were “working tirelessly” to develop, test and validate each fix.
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“The UK Government has already announced that owners in Britain will not incur higher vehicle taxes as result of VW’s actions”.
