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