The top Volkswagen official in the United States is stepping down from his post by mutual agreement after a major emissions scandal involving the automaker, the company announced Wednesday.
Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, resigned effective immediately Wednesday afternoon. The company announced he will pursue other opportunities.
“I want personally to say ‘thank you’ to Michael Horn for the great work he has done for the brand and with the dealers in the United States,” said Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen brand. “During his time in the U.S., Michael Horn built up a strong relationship with our national dealer body and showed exemplary leadership during difficult times for the brand.”
Hinrich J. Woebcken, the new head of the North America region and chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, will take over as president and CEO on an interim basis.
Horn was the VW official grilled by Congress last year in the wake of the emissions scandal that has embroiled the company. He started in the role in January 2014 and spent more than 25 years with VW.
The company is accused of installing software on thousands of “clean diesel” vehicles that could tell when emissions tests were taking place. The software would then switch to a normal mode when tests were done, allowing the cars to spew about 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen into the atmosphere.
Volkswagen equipped its 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter, clean diesel vehicles with the rigged software. About 585,000 vehicles have the “defeat device” software in the United States.
Nitrogen pollution can cause smog and release fine particulate matter into the air. Those pollutants are linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses that can cause premature death. Children, the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions see increased risk for harm when they are exposed to the pollutants.
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the company and the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resource Board are mulling punitive measures. A recall of the vehicles has not been announced in the U.S.
