WASHINGTON — Volkswagen's top U.S. executive apologized Thursday as the emissions-rigging scandal at the world's largest automaker deepened and members of Congress said the company violated the public's trust.
"On behalf of our company, my colleagues in Germany and myself, I would like to offer a sincere apology for Volkswagen's use of a software program that served to defeat the regular emissions testing regime," Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn told a House subcommittee.
The German automaker admitted last month that it installed on-board computer software designed to cheat on government emissions tests in nearly 500,000 of its four-cylinder "clean diesel" cars starting with the 2009 model year.
Horn, a 51-year-old German and veteran VW manager who took the reins of the brand's American subsidiary last year, told Congress that VW plans to withdraw applications seeking U.S. emissions certifications for its 2016 model Jettas, Golfs, Passats and Beetles with diesel engines.
By withdrawing the applications for the 2016 models, VW is leaving thousands of diesel vehicles stranded at ports nationwide, giving dealers no new diesel-powered vehicles to sell.
Horn said the company does not yet have an approved recall plan for cars that have the defeat device, and that any fix for customers could take "one or two years" to carry out. Each of the nearly half million cars will require five hours to 10 hours of work, a potentially significant burden on dealers.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.