By Ilona Wissenbach
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's chief executive is to report to a panel of senior supervisory board members this month on his progress in resolving a scandal over rigged emissions tests affecting up to 11 million vehicles, a person close to the matter said.
CEO Matthias Mueller is in the United States for the first time since the scandal erupted in September, to attend the Detroit auto show and try to persuade U.S. authorities to accept a fix for hundreds of thousands of cars.
He is to present to the supervisory board's steering committee the state of play in VW's efforts to recall and fix affected cars, costs for the recall, compensation for customers and resulting litigation, the source told Reuters on Wednesday.
During his trip, Mueller said he believed a new catalytic converter system could be fitted to most affected U.S. vehicles that would satisfy regulators.
However, Wednesday's meeting with the EPA risks being overshadowed by an interview in which Mueller appeared to play down the seriousness of the cheating by Europe's biggest carmaker.
VW said that Mueller was aware that his choice of words caused irritation and said he wanted the U.S. public to know that his apology for the company's breach of trust was sincere and honest.
(Additional reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)
