Volkswagen's U.S. head: individuals did emissions cheating

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkwagen's U.S. chief executive told lawmakers on Thursday that cheating on emissions with the use of software in diesel cars was not a corporate decision, but something that "individuals did."

"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," Michael Horn, VW's U.S. head, said about the software code called defeat devices, the company put in diesel cars since 2009.

Horn was testifying under oath to the House of Representatives Oversight and Investigations panel about the emissions scandal that has wiped away more than a third of the company's market value and sent tremors through the global auto industry.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and David Morgan)