Volkswagen has just announced that Michael Horn, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, is stepping down effective immediately. The automaker says Horn is departing "through mutual agreement with Volkswagen AG," and that he will "pursue other opportunities effective immediately." Horn will be replaced by Hinrich Woebcken, head of the North American Region and Chairman of Volkswagen Group of America, on an interim basis.

Horn, 54, was named president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America in January 2014. He has worked with the automaker in Europe since 1990.

While the departing CEO has not been directly implicated in Volkswagen's ongoing diesel emissions scandal, the situation has doubtless been a major headache for Horn. At the U.S. debut of the Volkswagen Passat in New York, just three days after VW's emissions cheating became public, Horn took the stage to issue a lengthy apology, saying "we totally screwed up."

"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 the announcement of Horn's resignation. "During his time in the US, Michael Horn built up a strong relationship with our national dealer body and showed exemplary leadership during difficult times for the brand."

Horn isn't the first executive to depart in the wake of the ongoing diesel saga. VW Group CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned in September, weeks after the diesel cheat was first reported, with former Porsche CEO Matthias Muller taking his place.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen does not seem to be any closer to a permanent solution to fix the estimated 11 million cars worldwide that contain the emissions defeat device—and some government agencies believe such a fix will never occur.

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