Here are Grundler’s prepared remarks.

As we reported yesterday:

The EPA is also being taken to task to determine why the agency failed to detect the use of such software earlier.

“VW manufactured and installed software in the electronic control module of these vehicles that sensed when the vehicle was being tested for compliance with EPA emissions standards,” Christopher Grundler, director of the EPA’s office of transportation and air quality, will testify on Thursday according to his prepared remarks. “Put simply, these cars contain software that turns off or significantly reduces the effectiveness of emissions controls when driving normally, and turns them on when the car is undergoing an emissions test.”

Grundler will also inform the committee that on 25 September the EPA contacted all auto manufacturers to inform them that the agency is “stepping up our testing activities in response to VW’s alleged violations”.

The hearing is taking a recess. When they come back, the lawmakers will hear from Christopher Grundler, director of EPA’s office of transportation and air quality.

“I don’t sleep at night,” says Horn. He says his goal is to help dealers and consumers and his employees to get them through this crisis.

Asked why did this happen, Horn says any answer will be speculation, but that he thinks it was “pressure in the system to get resolutions” and costs pressuers.

“It is dead wrong if you put profits before people,” says Horn.

Chris Collins, representative from New York, is on a roll. He completely rejects Horn’s explanation of the events.

He tells Horn to tell those in Germany that this response in insufficient and is arrogant.

He says when trying to figure out a way to meet emissions standards, VW engineers were stumped - “what is stumped?” asks Horn - and could not figure it out. Collins says he finds it difficult to believe that when the cars finally met the emissions standards, no one said: This is break through technology. Let’s patent this.

Collins says that he categorically rejects the story of two rogue engineers adding a line of code into software with no one asking any questions. Either VW is incompetent, he says, or they are complicit in a “massive cover-up”.

We can now add Morgan Griffith, representative from Virginia, to the long list of congressmen who have at some point owned a VW.

Griffith says that a VW was the first new car his mother was able to afford and it was the car he learned to drive on. He also inherited a Super Beetle, which he says he still has.

Speaking of disgruntled employees, he says: I am your consumer. I am a VW driver and I am disappointed.

Griffith suggests that VW create a database where consumers can enter their car information and find out if their car is one of the affected cars.

Horn really does not like people coughing and taking pictures - making clicking noise - while he is trying to testify.

Horn has a two pronged strategy: “I’m not an engineer” which gets him out of answering technical questions and “the Germans did it” which gets him personally off the hook. It’s a tough job but so far he’s pulling it off.

This hearing is far less heated than the grilling Mary Barra, GM’s boss, received over their ignition switch recall.

But that’s understandable considering that GM’s scandal killed people.

Jan Schakowsky, representative from Illinois, is asking Horn how long this will all take - asks for a timeline as to when cars might get fixed.

Horn says this depends on a car:

• Generation 3 - fixes could come as early as next year
  
• Generation 2 - fix is still in development. Will not happen before mid-next year
  
• Generation 1 - Horn calls this the “biggest feat”. Says there is no date yet

So, these cars will be on the road for at least a year? asks Schakowsky.

“More than a year, definitely,” said Horn.

Schakowsky suggests that VW consider providing financial compensation to customers who want to return the cars, because they feel they have been deceived.

Horn was just asked to explain how the device works. If you expected him to say “I am not an engineer” again, you’d not be the only one.

Instead, Horn said: The defeat device is not a device, it’s a software code.

So far, the most interesting part of Michael Horn’s testimony is the VW America boss admitting that it will take one to two years “minimum” to fix the affected cars in the US and that these vehicles will take 5 to 10 hours to fix each, with some needing a new tank fitted to them. This is likely to be the same across Europe. Horn claims that performance of the car will be relatively untouched, with miles per gallon the same, but any difference will leave company open to legal claims.

Joe Kennedy, representative from Massachusetts, presses Horn to confirm if anyone has been suspended so far.

Three people have been suspended, but Horn says he cannot disclose names.

How much will this entire scandal costs? ask Kennedy.

The costs depend on fines that VW will have to pay, cost of the fix and the compensation for consumers, says Horn.

It will be a “whole lot of money, I am quite sure”.

Horn also provides an important clarification, pointing out that those who are responsible for installing of these defeat devices do not work under him at VW America, but in different departments in Germany.

Toughest questions so far are being delivered by Joe Barton, Texas. Barton says it’s hard to believe that this was not a “corporate decision”. Horn is sticking with the line that two rogue software engineers are responsible for this mess but Barton stuck with it eventually forcing Horn to admit that he too finds it “hard to believe”.

“Personally I struggle as well,” he says. It does seem hard to swallow that no one else knew what was going on and the software engineers’ supervisors were wholly unaware.

Congressman Joe Barton is having a heart to heart talk with Horn. He finds it extremely difficult that no one in management knew about the defeat device and the emissions-rigging software.

“I agree it’s very hard to believe,” Horn told him, adding that he personally struggles with it as well.

Florida’s Kathy Castor is talking about how VW has let down customers who believed they had bought a greener car. We spoke to angry VW customers recently.

“It’s like we’re breaking up. We can either be friends or hate each other. Maybe we’ll even get back together, but not right now,” one of them told us.

Will VW buy back the car inventory? asks Marsha Blackburn, representative from Tennessee.

The objective is not to buy back the cars, but to fix them, says Horn.

Has the VW identified the group of people responsible for installing the defeat device? asks Blackburn.

The investigation is ongoing, says Horn.

When do you expect to have plan? Is there a timeline? asks Blackburn.

Horn’s answer is basically: we are working on it.

Blackburn asks if Horn is certain that this will be a multi-year plan.

He says yes. The fix - once agreed on - will take 5 to 10 hours per car. He point out that recalls usually take one to two year when the fix is available and agreed on by all agencies.

The hearing doesn’t seem to be impressed with Horn’s “I’m not an engineer” defense. Frank Pallone, New Jersey rep, isn’t convinced that VW has a fix and he’s pointing out that any fix is going to substantially change the cars.

Frank Pallone, representative for New Jersey, asks whether the fix from the VW will affect the cars fuel performance and mileage.

If the cars - once fixed - won’t perform as consumers expected, then VW should compensate them, he says.

Horn says compensations and effects on performance will be part of the conversation.

Congressman Upton wants to know what the VW is doing for the dealers, who have purchased the affected cars that they now cannot sell to US consumers.

Dealers have “lost a boatload”, says Upton.

Horn says that this concerns him a lot.

“Dealer profitability in this country is my number one objective,” Horn.

I have a feeling we will be hearing “I am not an engineer” a lot today.

Michael Horn’s explanation of how Volkswagen is trying to fix the affected vehicles gave a glimpse into how complex this will be it. As Horn said, if it was easy then VW would not have needed defeat devices in the first place to beat emissions tests. 430,000 of the 482,000 recalled US cars will need software and hardware repairs.

“You guys cough here all the time,” Horn said, prompting DeGette to repeat her question.

We can’t hear it on the video feed but apparently there is so much coughing in the room that Horn is having difficulty hearing the questions.

Strategy? Or perhaps there are noxious emissions.

Congresswoman DeGette asks Horn if he understands how the defeat devices work.

“No, I do not. I am not an engineer,” says Horn.

Murphy says he takes no comfort in the idea that just a few people have taken part in the deception regarding emissions rigging software.

According to Horn, investigation has now been turned over to external US law firm Jones Day.

VW is working on both software and hardware solutions.

“This is something that is hardware engineering. It’s complex and it takes a little bit of time,” says Horn.

We are done with prepared remarks. Congressman Murphy is begins questioning by asking: Did VW install this software to beat emissions tests?

Horn says that yes, the software was installed to beat emissions tests.

“These events are deeply troubling. I did not think that something like this was possible at the Volkswagen Group. We have broken the trust of our customers, dealerships, and employees, as well as the public and regulators,” says Horn.

“We are determined to make things right. This includes accepting the consequences of our acts, providing a remedy, and beginning to restore the trust of our customers, dealerships, employees, the regulators, and the American public. We will rebuild the reputation of a company that more than two million people worldwide, including dealers and suppliers, rely upon for their livelihoods.”

You can read the full prepared remarks here.

If Michael Horn was in any doubt about the tough ride he faces today, he can have little doubt now. The opening remarks from the committee suggest they want to shame the company, but also want answers about how exactly the scandal happened and who was to blame. Horn will have come prepared to be shamed, but providing answers could be more problematic. The company is facing legal claims around the world and Horn could claim his answers are restricted. That approach won Tony Hayward of BP no friends at all.

Pallone adds that the US consumers should feel safe on the road and that they should get what they paid for.

They are not “crash test dummies and shouldn’t be treated as such,” says Pallone. He tells Horn: don’t hide behind internal investigation excuse.

“We deserve an explanation.”

We are here because VW lied, says Frank Pallone, representative for New Jersey. He adds that this scandal makes him question how much American public should trust auto industry overall.

And that makes three.

David McKinley, representative for West Virginia, also admits that his first car was a beetle - a 1957 VW beetle.

“VW has betrayed a nation – a nation of regulators, loyalists, and innocent customers,” says Upton. “It’s time to clean it up or get off the road.”

“Cheaters never prosper,” says Fred Upton, representative for Michigan. “If you were willing to cut corners here what else have they done?”

It appears that Murphy is not the only congressman whose first car was a VW beetle.

Colorado congresswoman Diana DeGette also says her first car was a beetle.

“I still miss the car,” she says.

Representative Tim Murphy is setting out the aim’s of the hearing. He wants to know what happened, who was responsible and why they did it. Also why the environmental protection agency (EPA) failed to spot it. Murphy added that the scandal needed a sense of proportion - the recall of 480,000 represent only 0.2% of the vehicles on US roads and he said that so far there was no evidence that VW’s emmisions dodge extends to other manufacturers.

Murphy points out that Horn is appearing voluntarily and adds that he hopes that VW will continue to cooperate with US congress.

In his opening remarks, Murphy already laid out multiple questions:

As I said before, there are a number of core questions we will begin to pursue today, both for Volkswagen and for EPA. Most critically: what happened; who was involved; and why were these deceptive actions taken?

Horn will be asked explain “the current understanding of VW executives about what exactly was done to these engines, and was it done to deliberately deceive the government regulators? And what is VW doing to fix the problem and make whole those who have been affected by its actions?”

Murphy also wants to know:

If the technology was improving, what did the company understand about the software cheat? And what does this mean for fixing these vehicles? Will some be easier than others?

Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, has arrived and the hearing is about to begin.

Horn’s prepared remarks can be found here.

Pennsylvania congressman Tim Murphy begins the hearing saying that his first car was a Volkswagen beetle.

“I loved that car,” says Murphy.

You can watch the Volkswagen hearing here on C-SPAN:

In case you need a refresher before the hearing starts, here is our video that explains what VW did and why:

While we have been waiting for the hearing to begin, VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany have been raided by officials.

Here is what we have so far:

Prosecutors in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, say the raids were carried out on Thursday in Wolfsburg, where VW has its headquarters, and at other locations.

In a statement, they said the aim of the searches was to “secure documents and data storage devices” that could identify those involved in the alleged manipulation and explain how it was carried out.