Renault boasts record year, despite diesel allegations

Renault yesterday became the latest car company to be investigated for fraud over how much polluting gas its cars produce.

The Paris prosecutor's office said it has opened a judicial inquiry into Renault's emissions controls practices.

They were also looking into whether Renault 'made merchandise dangerous for human health'.

The diesel scandal rocking the car industry was first triggered by the revelation Volkswagen used software called a 'defeat device' in its cars.

The software adjusts the engine to make the car produce less nitrogen dioxide gas during test situations. 

Nitrogen dioxide worsens respiratory problems and causes around 12,000 premature deaths in the UK a year.

This week Italian car giant Fiat was dragged into the scandal over claims it too rigged tests which measured how much nitrogen dioxide the cars produce.

Renault yesterday issued a denial its cars are equipped with pollution cheating software, and said the company complies with all French and European laws.

The probe is based on an initial investigation by the French economy ministry's fraud department, which handed its findings to prosecutors in November.

French authorities raided Renault company premises after Volkswagen was found to have used engine software to cheat on US diesel emissions tests.

Renault recalled 15,000 cars last year because they spewed out excessive levels of harmful gases, but the company insisted there was no intentional wrongdoing.

Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn has said that despite the Volkswagen scandal, the company will continue developing diesel technology. 

In a statement, Renault took note of the investigation but said its 'vehicles are not equipped with cheating software affecting anti-pollution systems.'

It added that the company supports European moves to toughen emissions testing and has taken steps to reduce its own cars' emissions over the past year.

French prosecutors are carrying out a separate probe into Volkswagen's emissions practices in France.

Tentacles of the Volkswagen scandal are continuing to reach across the industry more than a year later.

The US government accused Fiat Chrysler on Thursday of failing to disclose software in some vehicles that lets them emit more pollution than allowed.

In Britain, the Department for Transport said it was urgently seeking further information from US authorities over allegations Fiat Chrysler used hidden software to allow excess diesel emissions to go undetected.

'We are urgently seeking further information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... and will also be seeking information from the manufacturer regarding vehicles in the UK market,' a DfT spokesman said.

source: AFP