VW’s U.S. Boss Offers Apology, Shows Anger at Diesel Cheating

On Thursday Michael Horn, CEO of Volkswagen AG's American unit, became the company's first executive to give sworn testimony about software VW used to cheat government emission tests for 482,000 diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S.

Horn offered a "sincere apology" to a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, telling the panel he learned of the deception only days before VW publicly admitted the sham. He also expressed his own anger at the company's deceit. The Financial Times says he at one point snapped, "This company has to bloody learn, and use this process to get its act together."

Horn repeatedly presented the company's conviction that the cheating was the work of a small group of engineers at VW headquarters in Germany and not the result of a corporate decision. But he agreed with indignant Congressional panelists that that position is "very hard to believe," and says he has struggled to accept it.

VW apparently used software to cheat U.S. emission tests after realizing the device it used to control nitrogen oxides was insufficient, according to Horn. He says bringing older affected engines into compliance will require the installation of a costly urea injection system that could take 10 hours per vehicle. Horn adds that newer diesels can be made compliant with a software update alone.