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Washington - Volkswagen's cheating on emissions with the use of software in diesel cars was not a corporate decision, but something that "individuals did," its US chief executive told lawmakers on Thursday.
Michael Horn, Volkswagen's US president and chief executive, testified under oath to the House of Representatives oversight and investigations panel about the emissions scandal that has wiped away more than a third of the company's market value and sent tremors through the global auto industry.
Human health
"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," Horn said about the software code called defeat devices, which the company put in diesel cars since 2009 to cheat government tests of emissions harmful to human health.
"Some people have made the wrong decisions in order to get away with something that will have to be found out," Horn said when asked by lawmakers on the panel if Volkswagen cheated with defeat devices because it was cheaper than using existing technology that can cut emissions.
Volkswagen has suspended 10 senior managers, including three top engineers, as part of its internal investigation. The inquiry has found employees began to install defeat devices after realising a costly new engine would fail US emissions standards, according to sources. Company investigators have found no evidence against the engineers.
Horn on Thursday admitted that Volkswagen, even after hearing in the spring of 2014 about an independent study that showed emissions irregularities in two of its diesel cars, told US air regulators that the higher emissions data was the result of technical problems with the tests.
Diesel cars
The company told regulators only on September 3 that it was using defeat devices in diesel cars since the 2009 models, Horn said.
Horn said he had "no understanding" of what defeat devices were and only learned of them at a meeting in September that Volkswagen held with US and California air regulators.
The scandal is the biggest business crisis in Volkswagen's 78-year history, and it forced the ouster of long-time CEO Martin Winterkorn.
