Renault Shares Drop on Apparent Fraud Probe Into Emissions

[Lucky Luciano]

Source: Bloomberg

PhilSerafino
January 14, 2016 — 5:53 AM EST Updated on January 14, 2016 — 6:13 AM EST
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Renault SA shares plunged as much as 20 percent after a union said French fraud investigators seized computers from the automaker as part of an apparent probe into emissions testing.

Agents from the Economy Ministry’s fraud office visited some Renault sites that have to do with standards testing and engine certification, said Florent Grimaldi, an official with the CGT union at the company’s operations in Lardy, France, by telephone Thursday, confirming a report earlier by Agence France-Presse. That left the impression that the probe is related to emissions standards in the wake of the Volkswagen AG scandal, he said.
Calls to Renault and the fraud office for comment weren’t immediately returned.

Renault dropped 16 percent to 72.98 euros at 12:10 p.m. in Paris. The intraday decline of 20 percent was the biggest since 2008. Peugeot fell 8 percent to 13.61 euros.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-14/renault-shares-drop-on-report-of-fraud-probe-into-emission-tests

---

All European automakers getting slammed. May the book be thrown!

[Helen Borg]

1. One day will find out...

That EVERYBODY has been cheating on emissions. It always puzzled me how, when walking in European cities with all these cars using "clean" diesel, the air felt really polluted compared to US cities. Now we know why!

[Angel Martin]

7. everybody cheating

it is not your imagination. The UK samples air quality beside high volume roads. Given the number of cars passing, age of the fleet and required emissions they calculate what emissions should be, and the actual pollution levels are many times higher.

http://www.theicct.org/real-world-exhaust-emissions-modern-diesel-cars

[cstanleytech]

2. Makes me wonder if this might also extend to US and Japanese automakers.

If it does then there needs to be more than just fines done, there needs to be massive jail time and I mean massive like life in prison without the chance for parole.................ever.

[Bernin]

3. Life without parole

for emissions cheating. mmmmmkay
And yet every time we have a cop kill an unarmed human you scream no way the cop should be tried.

Please proceed it's entertaining.

[Eugene]

4. French government reassures Renault investors there is 'no emissions fraud'

Source: The Guardian

French government reassures Renault investors there is 'no emissions fraud'

Almost €5bn was wiped off carmaker’s market value in early trading after news
of police raids at carmaker’s premises

Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent and Julia Kollewe
Thursday 14 January 2016 19.55 GMT

French ministers have said that no “defeat device” or fraudulent software in Renault engines has been found, after the carmaker’s share price plunged on Thursday following reports that police had raided its premises.

Shares in Renault tumbled more than 20% on Thursday morning as investors feared that the French manufacturer could be drawn into the VW diesel emissions scandal, after unions revealed that fraud investigators had searched three sites the previous week. Shares rallied to leave Renault down around 10% by the end of the day.

Renault confirmed the raids had taken place but denied that any evidence of defeat devices had been discovered, before France’s ecology and energy minister, Ségolène Royal, moved to calm speculation.

Royal said that the French independent technical commission set up in the wake of the VW scandal, which presented its results to the minister in a meeting on Thursday, had found nothing wrong in Renault’s cars. She told journalists: “There is no fraud at Renault. Shareholders and employees should be reassured.”

However, Royal confirmed that Renault cars did emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions above accepted limits in their tests. Renault pledged in late 2015 that it would invest €50m (£38m) to bring its cars’ real-world emissions into line with those recorded under official test conditions.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/14/renault-shares-plunge-police-raid-linked-vw-crisis

[jmowreader]

5. Could Bosch be the principal bad guys here?

Bosch is, and has always been, a major supplier of diesel fuel injection systems.

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. Interesting.

Worth following up on.