VW’s U.S. Chief Apologizes for Diesel Dupe: ‘We Screwed Up’

Volkswagen AG’s top U.S. executive was profusely apologetic for the diesel-emissions cheating scandal that emerged on Friday and vowed to win back the trust of the U.S. consumer.

“Our company was dishonest with the EPA, and the California Air Resources Board and with all of you,” Michael Horn, the head of the VW brand in the U.S., said Monday night in Brooklyn, New York, where he was revealing a redesigned version of the slow-selling Passat sedan at an event featuring rock star Lenny Kravitz. “And in my German words: We have totally screwed up. We must fix the cars to prevent this from ever happening again and we have to make this right. This kind of behavior is totally inconsistent with our qualities.”