DeGette: VW Should Resolve Emissions Issue 'Pronto'

DENVER (CBS4) - A Congressional panel will hold a hearing Thursday to look into the emissions cheating scandal by Volkswagen, and the owner of a Denver VW dealership will be among those attending.

Fred Emich says the vehicles in question represent 25 percent of his business.

"It's obviously very impactful on our business and something we had no indication of or control over," Emich said.

Emich says he was shocked when he received an email ordering a stop-sale on 100 of his new and used diesel cars.

Soon after that he says he received emails from customers wanting refunds.

"I don't have the pockets to take back every (diesel) that we sold and reimburse someone whatever the cost of the car is," says Emich. But, he says he understands why people are angry.

So does Congresswoman Rep. Diana DeGette. She sits on the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, which will hold the hearing this Thursday. The committee has a long history of investigating car maker scandals.

"We had the GM hearings; we had the Tekata airbag hearings; we had the Toyota hearings. All of those came to light because of our committee investigations. We were able to get those situations rectified. I'm hoping VW will come in Thursday and be able to tell us how this happened and what they intend to do to fix it, and pronto," DeGette said.

Degette visited Emich Volkswagen to see the pollution control equipment on the VW diesels firsthand. The company admits it installed software that evades emission controls during testing.

Degette says, "What I want to know is how and why did VW do this."

The panel will also grill the Environmental Protection Agency on how the cheating went undetected for six years.

"I'm confident a fix will be found. I'm actually pretty confident there's already a fix," Emich said.

There are about 3,000 of the VW diesel cars on the road in Colorado. While they represent a small percentage of the total cars in Colorado; they are a significant percentage of the sales at VW dealerships where hundreds of the cars are sitting idle on their lots.

"Volkswagen has come up with some programs to incentivize customers. Actually now is probably really good time to buy a Volkswagen if you do want to be part of the brand," Emich said.

Shaun Boyd is CBS4's political specialist. She's a veteran reporter with more than 25 years of experience. Follow her on Twitter @cbs4shaun.