Volkswagen chief in U.S. to face congressional outrage

Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, is scheduled to testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday morning. The committee is examining the use of so-called “defeat devices” that allowed Volkswagen’s “clean diesel” vehicles to cheat emissions testing.

Christopher Grundler, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, and Phillip Brooks, director of the EPA’s Air Enforcement Division, also are scheduled to testify.

Last month, the EPA announced Volkswagen had been caught using software that could turn emissions controls on and off during testing. That allowed the “clean diesel” vehicles to emit 40 times the amount of nitrogen oxide legally allowable during normal use while not being caught by emissions tests.

It’s been a catastrophic few weeks for VW since the announcement, with its stock price plummeting and the resignation of the company’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn, coming in the week following the scandal.

The scam may affect up to 482,000 vehicles in the United States alone and about 11 million vehicles worldwide. The EPA may be able to levy a fine of $18 billion against the company for the violations in the United States.

No recall has been issued to bring the VW models affected by the scheme into compliance, which the committee plans to ask about at Thursday’s hearing.

While the company has faced backlash in the wake of the announcement, it seems some people in the more liberal parts of the country are taking exception to the continued use of VW vehicles in the wake of the scandal.

In Portland, someone is leaving flyers on Volkswagen cars informing the owners of the scandal and requesting that they no longer drive their vehicle. It also links the company to Nazi Germany.

The EPA has said all vehicles affected by the scandal are safe and legal to drive.