BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel says she only found out about Volkswagen's use of software to cheat on emissions through the media.

Appearing as a witness Wednesday before a German parliamentary panel on the Volkswagen emissions scandal, German news agency dpa says Merkel said she was only aware of the cheating when it emerged in the United States in September 2015.

Volkswagen is recovering from a scandal that damaged its reputation. The company has admitted and paid out billions for installing software on diesel engines that activated pollution controls during tests and switched them off in real-world driving.

The German parliamentary inquiry was set up last July. It is tasked with looking into whether the German government knew about vehicles' emissions on the road diverging from their emissions in testing.