EPA and VW mum after meeting on emissions scandal
WASHINGTON -- Officials at Volkswagen and the nation's environmental watchdog are keeping mum about whether any progress was made during a closed-door meeting on the German automaker's emissions cheating scandal.
VW global CEO Matthias Mueller met Wednesday with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy in Washington. Both VW and the agency declined to provide further details, including how long the two spoke.
"We appreciated the conversation with Volkswagen," said an EPA spokesperson. "We will continue to work toward a solution."
The meeting came a day after California air quality regulators rejected a recall plan proposed by VW for its most popular diesel models, and EPA backed the action.
Volkswagen was forced to admit last year that about 600,000 vehicles nationwide were sold with illegal software designed to trick government emissions tests. Those controls deactivated during real-world driving, causing the cars to emit up to 40 times more pollution than allowed.