VW’s Horn blames ‘rogue engineers’

President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America Michael Horn testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on October 8, 2015. Picture: Gary Cameron

President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America Michael Horn testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on October 8, 2015. Picture: Gary Cameron

Published Oct 9, 2015

Share

London - Volkwagen's exhaust emissions scandal, which is set to cost the world's biggest car maker billions of pounds, was caused by “a couple of software engineers” who did it for unknown reasons, Michael Horn, VW's US chief executive claimed on Thursday.

Testifying before a congressional committee in Washington, DC, Horn apologised and promised a full investigation. “This was not a corporate decision,” he said, but something done by German software engineers. “I agree it's hard to believe,” he admitted when challenged by sceptical committee members.

The claims came as German investigators raided the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg in search of evidence to clarify who was responsible for the cheating.

Horn said cars affected will need more than a software update to meet US pollution rules. He said the company was also examining whether it needed to add equipment such as catalytic converters or urea tanks.

VW would compensate customers, Horn said. The fix will maintain fuel efficiency but may affect performance, he admitted. Losses to the company will depend on the fines and how much it costs to fix the cars and compensate customers, he stressed. He conceded it could take years to retrofit 430,000 diesel vehicles in the US alone.

His claims came in for criticism. Chris Collins, a Republican representative from New York, said: “I categorically reject everything that VW is saying about a couple of rogue engineers. Either Volkswagen management is incompetent or they are complicit in a massive cover-up that is continuing today.”

Horn repeatedly stressed he didn't know the carmaker had installed defeat devices until a few days before a meeting with US environmental regulators on 3 September. Horn said it appeared the software was fitted because the cars couldn't meet US pollution rules.

German prosecutors last week launched an investigation to determine who was responsible for suspected fraud committed through the sale of vehicles with manipulated emissions data. They said the aim of yesterday's searches was to “secure documents and data storage devices” that could identify those involved in the alleged manipulation and explain how it was carried out.

Volkswagen has suspended four workers and said a recall of cars with the suspect software could start in Germany in January. The software, known as a “defeat device”, is capable of turning on pollution controls for lab tests and shutting them off during real-world driving.

Volkswagen added that it was not yet clear whether the software was banned in Europe.

THE INDEPENDENT

Related Topics: