CEO leaves Volkswagen Group of America

Michael Horn, the president and CEO of  Herndon-based Volkswagen Group of America, has left the embattled automaker.

Volkswagen said Horn’s departure was the result of a mutual agreement and is effective immediately so that he can 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,” Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen brand, said in a statement. “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.”

Volkswagen’s difficult times began last September when the Environmental Protection Agency disclosed an emissions cheating scandal involving 11 million of the automaker’s diesel-powered cars. Martin Winterkorn, the CEO of Volkswagen, resigned in the wake of the disclosure.

“We have totally screwed up,” Horn said at event in New York shortly after the EPA announcement. He was later called to testify before Congress about the cheating incident.

In December, Volkswagen  officials revealed that company engineers put software in many diesel engines to lower emissions during EPA tests in an effort to meet strict U.S. standards.

Hinrich J. Woebcken, who was recently named head of the North American Region and chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, will assume Horn’s position on an interim basis.

Michael Horn, 54, became president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America in January 2014. He joined Volkswagen 25 years ago.