VW scandal: UK boss denies company deliberately tried to mislead

Paul Willis, the Volkswagen chief executive in the UK, said that Volkswagen had fallen short of expectations

Paul Willis, the Volkswagen chief executive in the UK, spoke before the Environmental Audit Committee on Thursday morning (PA)

The UK boss of Volkswagen has denied that the company deliberately tried to mislead the public over the emissions scandal.

Speaking before the Environmental Audit Committee on Thursday morning, Paul Willis, the Volkswagen chief executive in the UK, said that Volkswagen had fallen short of expectations.

"It's my opinion that the senior management of the company are very precise people. They are very honest people, very direct people. I know these gentlemen. I know them quite well. I find it implausible this is a deliberate intent to mislead people," Mr Willis said.

Mr Willis said he thought it was unlikely that further revelations would come out.

Volkswagen has said that 1.2 million vehicles are affected by the emissions scandal in the UK. Volkswagen has admitted that it used so-called defeat devices that give a different reading for potentially lethal nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars in a test, compared to a real-world, environment.