Volkswagen's US operations chief Michael Horn admitted they knew about the emission problems. (Photo : Reuters)
Volkswagen faces another conundrum after the U.S. Chief admitted he already knew of the emission problems since 2014. Before the court hearing, Michael Horn, head of Volkswagen Americas, apologized to the congressional committee Oct. 8, Thursday, about the cheating on the pollution tests.
The company has now admittedly conspired to lie to the public about the 11 million diesel cars that has a software that switches the engine to low-emission mode during tests. After the pollution examinations, the software would shut down which then caused the 11 million cars worldwide to discharge harmful gases.
"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," Reuters quoted Horn as saying during his apology. "Some people have made the wrong decisions in order to get away with something."
On the other hand, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board Stanley Young said that the agency is investigating the software, but they could not specify details yet since the status of Volkswagen is still pending.
The lawmakers have accused the carmaker company of violating the public's trust. Director of the Safe Climate Campaign at the Center for Auto Safety Dan Becker said that this new admission from Volkswagen's part could potentially qualify as a violation of the law.
"They put it in their vehicles, and then they signed a certification petition to the regulator saying what they put in their vehicles and didn't mention it," New York Times quoted as Decker saying. "It's certainly a material omission."
Because of Horn's statement, Michigan Republican Fred Upton now doubts the honesty of the company in terms of their past fixtures.
