The head of the American division of Volkswagen, Michael Horn, is expected to apologize on Thursday to members of the US Congress, as well as to answer questions about the scandal with the falsification of the results of emissions measurements diesel vehicles, reports BBC.
In the statement, which M. Horn will voice in the US Congress on Thursday, is noted that he was made aware of possible violations in the spring of 2014. The head of the American division of Volkswagen was aware of the discrepancy with real emission indicators of vehicles with diesel engine for 18 months prior to the official disclosure of this information.
However, according to M. Horn, he learned about the manipulation of software for cars only in "the last few weeks."
"I was told that the requirements of United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) include different penalties for failure to exhaust emissions standards, and that the agency can conduct engineering tests, including testing and defeat devices analysis"- is said in the statement of M. Horn. - I was also informed that the company's engineers will work with agencies to solve this problem. "
As found by US regulators, diesel engines of some Volkswagen models and its subsidiary brands (including Audi A3, Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat), which are sold at home and abroad, have been equipped with the so called “defeat device”, which recognizes the connection of the measuring equipment and changes parameters of the engine, improving the test results of the exhaust gases.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen has informed the US authorities of "defeat device" installed on 2009-2015 cars only on September 3 of this year, the statement says.
M. Horn said that bears the full responsibility for the incident, and that the latest events cannot avoid grave concerns.
The head of the American division of Volkswagen is expected to apologize on Thursday to members of the US Congress, and also to come with explanations about the VW scandal.