Michael Horn

Volkswagen's straight-talking U.S. chief Michael Horn has quit the automaker as it struggles with the fallout of a massive pollution cheating scandal, a decision that caught the industry by surprise.

German police swooped on Volkswagen's headquarters on Oct. 8, carrying away files and hard disks as the investigation into a massive pollution cheating scandal expanded on both sides of the Atlantic.

The head of Volkswagen's US division apologized to Congress and said the company takes "full responsibility" for an emissions cheating scandal, according to testimony released Oct. 7.

Sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction. I would never have expected a German company, especially one which is built on trust, to be involved in such a shameful scam.