Volkswagen’s top U.S. executive apologized Thursday as the emissions-rigging scandal engulfing 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.
Calling the company’s admission “deeply troubling,” Horn said, “We have broken the trust of our customers, dealerships, and employees, as well as the public and regulators.”
As Horn began his testimony, lawmakers from both parties fondly recalled their first VWs and then laced into the company for betraying the public’s trust.
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.