French authorities are currently investigating Renault in a potential new dieselgate scandal.
French authorities are currently investigating Renault as they suspect that the car manufacturer could be involved in a potentially new dieselgate scandal.
This past week has not been a good one for the auto industry. Earlier this week, Volkswagen agreed to plead guilty and also pay fines. The German automaker will be pleading guilty to charges in three criminal cases.
It will also be paying fines coming up to $4.3 billion. These are all methods of trying to settle last year’s dieselgate scandal. Now, another company may potentially give rise to a new emissions scandal.
Groupe Renault is a French automobile manufacturer. The multinational is based near Paris, France. It serves more than 115 countries worldwide. The Groupe has a number of subsidiaries. It is also very well known for its motorsport contributions. Rallying, Formula E and Formula 1 are especially targeted.
Earlier this week, the manufacturer’s name was mentioned in an inquiry. On Friday, prosecutors announced a new investigation. This will target several auto manufacturers, including Renault. The carmakers will be investigated based on French experts discoveries.
These latter detected very high emission levels. They were detected for the respective carmakers’ diesel engines. Authorities will focus on potential emission software cheats.
Renault took to denying the allegations. According to statements, Renault maintains that its engines are in accordance with the regulations. More exactly, the French and European ones.
More exactly, company officials stated as follows. “Renault vehicles are all and have always been homologated in accordance with the laws and regulations.” Furthermore, the engines are “compliant with the applicable standards.”.
Still, Renault will face a preliminary emissions probe. This will be carried out by French prosecutors. Several weeks before, anti-fraud authorities released a statement. According to it, their research revealed quite some material. This could have easily been the base for further investigations into the Renault diesel engines.
Following the probe announcement, Renault shares fell. They dropped by over 4 percent immediately after the release. By the time the Paris stock exchange closed, the final share drop was of 2.9 percent.
This accounted for an 83.75 euros value per share. Renault’s overall CAC 40 index was seen to rise. It increased by 1.2 percent.
The inquiry’s results remain to be seen. Renault maintains that it did not and is not using anti-pollution cheating software. “Renault vehicles are not equipped with cheating software affecting anti-pollution systems.”
EPA released a statement of its own, earlier this same Friday. EPA is the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The agency made similar accusations in relation to Fiat Chrysler. It accused the auto manufacturer of installing secret software. This reportedly modified the emission levels of over 100,000 of its vehicles. As such, these could emit over the limit pollutants.
An EPA authority stated as follows. The Fiat Chrysler software may be “contributing to illegal pollution”.
Sergio Marchionne, the Fiat Chrysler CEO, stated as follows. According to him, the company did not intend to break the law. More exactly, “There’s not a guy who would try something as stupid as cheating on emissions tests.” This was stated in relation to the carmaker. Marchionne also stated the following. “We have done, in our view, nothing that is illegal.”
As with the Renault probe, inquiry results remain to be determined. Some market analysts did point out a fact. “The case is different to the Volkswagen one.”
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