Opening Statement from Volkswagen's Michael Horn (C-SPAN) — Transcript

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1. 0:00the C-SPAN networks bring you long form
2. 0:02public affairs programming from the
3. 0:03nation's capital and are a public
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5. 0:06C-SPAN created by cable then in that
6. 0:09case would you please raise your right
7. 0:10hand and I'll swear you in Stand raise
8. 0:12your right
9. 0:16hand do you swear the testimony you're
10. 0:18about to give is the truth the whole
11. 0:20truth and nothing but the
12. 0:22truth thank you that we could show the
13. 0:25witness answered yes uh you are now
14. 0:29under oath and subject to the Penalty
15. 0:31set forth in Title 18 section 10001 of
16. 0:35the United States code you may now give
17. 0:38a five minute summary of your written
18. 0:40statement if you please make sure your
19. 0:41microphone is on and pulled close to you
20. 0:42so we can hear
21. 0:44you you have to press the button is is
22. 0:47it on I thank okay
23. 0:51right um thank you very much chairman
24. 0:54Upton chairman Murphy ranking member
25. 0:56palone ranking member deat other members
26. 0:59of of the committee thank you for
27. 1:01inviting me here today to testify before
28. 1:03the committee my name is Michael Horn
29. 1:05and I'm president and CEO of Volkswagen
30. 1:07group of America a subsidiary of
31. 1:10Volkswagen AG headquartered in Germany
32. 1:12in volborg I volunteered to come here
33. 1:14before this committee at the very outset
34. 1:16of these inquiries in an effort to show
35. 1:18our commitment to cooperation we have
36. 1:21not had the opportunity to review all
37. 1:23aspects of this matter indeed the
38. 1:25investigation is just beginning
39. 1:28therefore my testimony and my answer to
40. 1:30your questions will be by necessity have
41. 1:32to be considered preliminary and based
42. 1:34on my best current recollection and
43. 1:36information on behalf of our company and
44. 1:39my colleagues in Germany and me
45. 1:41personally I would like to offer a
46. 1:43sincere apology sincere apology for
47. 1:47Volkswagen's use of software program
48. 1:50that sered to defeat the regular
49. 1:51emissions testing regime in the spring
50. 1:54of 2014 when the West Virginia
51. 1:56University study was published I was
52. 1:58told that there was a possible emissions
53. 2:01non-compliance that could be remedied I
54. 2:04was informed that EPA regulations
55. 2:06included various penalties for
56. 2:07non-compliance with the emission
57. 2:09standards and also that the agency could
58. 2:12conduct engineering tests on their own
59. 2:15with uh which could include um analysis
60. 2:19on defeat devices or other auil
61. 2:22auxiliary equipment let me be very clear
62. 2:25about this while I was told about the
63. 2:28EPA process I was not then told not that
64. 2:31did I have any reason to
65. 2:34suspect or to believe that our vehicles
66. 2:36included such a
67. 2:40device I was also informed that the
68. 2:43company Engineers would work with the
69. 2:44agencies to resolve the issue later in
70. 2:472014 I was informed that the technical
71. 2:49teams had a specific plan for remedies
72. 2:51to bring the vehicle into compliance and
73. 2:54that were that they were engaged with
74. 2:56the agencies about the process and you
75. 2:57mentioned this also in your statements
76. 3:00on September 3rd 2015 Volkswagen AGG
77. 3:03disclosed at a meeting with the
78. 3:04California air resources board and the
79. 3:06US Environmental Protection Agency that
80. 3:08emission software in four-cylinder
81. 3:10diesels
82. 3:12in um in four-cylinder diesels vehicles
83. 3:15from model years 2009 until 2015
84. 3:17contained a defeat device in the form of
85. 3:20hidden
86. 3:21software um that could recognize whether
87. 3:24a vehicle was being operated in a test
88. 3:26laboratory or on the road the software
89. 3:28made those Vehicles ID levels of
90. 3:30nitrogen oxides when the vehicles were
91. 3:32driven in actual Road use rather than
92. 3:34Laboratory Testing in Volkswagen's
93. 3:37recent ongoing discussions with The
94. 3:39Regulators we described to the EPA and
95. 3:41carp that our emissions controlled
96. 3:43strategy also included a software
97. 3:45feature that should be disclosed to and
98. 3:48approved by them as an auxiliary
99. 3:50emissions control device which is also
100. 3:52called aecd in connection with the
101. 3:55certification process as a result in
102. 3:57order to show that we Act immediately we
103. 4:00have withdrawn the application for
104. 4:02certification for our model year 16
105. 4:03vehicles and we are now working with the
106. 4:06agencies to continue the certification
107. 4:08process these events and I fully agree
108. 4:11on this are deeply troubling I did not
109. 4:14think that something like this was
110. 4:16possible at the Volkswagen group we have
111. 4:17broken the trust of our customers
112. 4:19dealerships employees as well as the
113. 4:22public and the regulators and let me be
114. 4:24very clear we at Volkswagen take full
115. 4:26responsibility for our actions and we
116. 4:29are working with all the relevant
117. 4:30authorities in a Cooperative way I'm
118. 4:33here to offer the commitment of
119. 4:34Volkswagen AG to work with this
120. 4:37committee to understand what happened
121. 4:39and how we will move forward EPA carp
122. 4:42the US Department of Justice State
123. 4:44Attorneys General as well as other
124. 4:46authorities are fulfilling their duties
125. 4:48to investigate this matter and we are
126. 4:50determined to make things right this
127. 4:52includes accepting the consequences of
128. 4:54our acts providing a remedy and
129. 4:56beginning to restore the trust of our
130. 4:58customers dealerships employees The
131. 5:00Regulators and the American public we
132. 5:03will rebuild the reputation of a company
133. 5:05that more than 2 million people
134. 5:07worldwide including dealers and
135. 5:08suppliers relay rely upon for their
136. 5:11livelihoods our immediate goal is to
137. 5:13develop a remedy for our customers while
138. 5:15much work is still to be done I'd like
139. 5:17to talk today about how we get from
140. 5:19where we are now to that goal first we
141. 5:22are conducting investigations on a
142. 5:23worldwide scale on how these matters
143. 5:26could have happened responsible parties
144. 5:28will be identified and held accountable
145. 5:30thorough
146. 5:31investigations have already begun but
147. 5:33any information development at this
148. 5:35stage is preliminary we ask for your
149. 5:38understanding as we complete this work
150. 5:40second it's important for the public to
151. 5:42know that as the EPA has said these
152. 5:45vehicles do not present a safety hazard
153. 5:47and remain safe and legal to drive third
154. 5:50technical teams are working tirelessly
155. 5:52to develop remedies for each of the
156. 5:54affected group of vehicles these
157. 5:56Solutions will be tested and validated
158. 5:58and then shared with the responsible
159. 6:00authorities for approval there are the
160. 6:02three groups of vehicles involved each
161. 6:04containing one of the three generations
162. 6:06of the 2 L diesel engine each will
163. 6:08require a different remedy but these
164. 6:10remedies can only be our first step to
165. 6:12our customers fourth we will examine our
166. 6:14compliance processes and standards at
167. 6:16Volkswagen and adopt measures to make
168. 6:18certain that something like this cannot
169. 6:20happen again fifth we commit to regular
170. 6:23and open communication with our
171. 6:25customers dealers employees and the
172. 6:27public as we move forward and as First
173. 6:29Steps we have set up a a designated
174. 6:32service line website microsite to be a
175. 6:35channel for this communication and I've
176. 6:36sent a personal letter to every affected
177. 6:38customer I can offer today this outline
178. 6:42of a path forward towards the goal of
179. 6:44making things right nevertheless
180. 6:46Volkswagen knows that we will be judged
181. 6:48not by our judged not by our words but
182. 6:51clearly about our actions over the
183. 6:52coming weeks and month these events are
184. 6:55fundamentally contrary to Volkswagen's
185. 6:57core principles of proving value to our
186. 6:59customers Innovation and responsibility
187. 7:02to our communities and our environment
188. 7:05they do not reflect the company at that
189. 7:07I know and to which I have dedicated 25
190. 7:10years on my life it's inconsistent that
191. 7:13this company involved in this emissions
192. 7:15issue is also a company that had
193. 7:16invested environmental efforts to reduce
194. 7:18the carbon footprint in our factories
195. 7:21around the world where our plant in
196. 7:22Tennessee is the best Factory in this
197. 7:25respect in closing again I apologize on
198. 7:28behalf of everyone at Volkswagen we will
199. 7:31fully cooperate with the responsible
200. 7:32authorities we will find remedies for
201. 7:35our customers and we will work to ensure
202. 7:37what that this will never happen again
203. 7:39thank you again for allowing me to
204. 7:41testify today and I look forward to your
205. 7:43questions thank you