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EU: Renault shares plunge on factory raids by police

By  |  January 14, 2016

Shares in French carmaker Renault plunged 20%, before recovering to close 10.3% lower, after police raids on the company’s facilities.

The firm confirmed the raids took place last week and said investigators wanted to check equipment at its factories.

Investors feared Renault was embroiled in cheating emissions tests, something Volkswagen admitted last year.

However, Renault stressed that tests have shown “no evidence” of devices designed to cheat emissions tests.

Renault’s comments were backed up by French Energy minister Segolene Royal who said government tests had not uncovered software designed to cheat emissions tests.

According to Renault the fraud investigators were looking at the way Renault uses exhaust emissions technology, and it was co-operating fully with the probe.

The statement said that investigators “decided to carry out additional on-site and material investigations, in order to definitively confirm the first findings resulting from the analysis of the independent technical commission”.

Investigators “went to the headquarters, the Renault Technical Centre in Lardy and the Technocentre in Guyancourt,” Renault said.

Full content: Chicago Tribune

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