The Growing Non-Exclusive Dieselgate Club – Fraud Charges Also in France for Renault on Diesel Emissions Levels

Ghosn back in the Renault Nissan Alliance days promoting EVs.

French carmaker Renault has also been charged by prosecutors alleging it cheated on emission tests for diesel vehicles for several years, a scandal that encompasses many diesel sellers, including PSA, Fiat, VW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, among others.

The investigation opened on 12 January 2017 on older generations of diesel vehicles.  Renault s.a.s. was placed under examination on 8 June 2021 on the charge of deceit, aka fraud. Investigators accused Renault of “fraudulent strategies” used by top managers for more than 25 years to falsify the emission test results, including its longtime head Carlos Ghosn. The EU Parliament adopted legislation last November that will allow US-style class action lawsuits against companies accused of wide-scale fraud.

Renault will pay bail of 20 million Euros, 18 million of which will be reserved for the potential payment of damages and fines and will have to provide a bank guarantee of 60 million Euros for potential compensation for losses.

Renault, in an apparently translated statement, “denies having committed any offence and reminds that its vehicles are not equipped with any rigging software for pollution control devices. Renault has always complied with French and European regulations.  Renault vehicles have all and always been type-approved in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.”

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• Reuters Reports Carlos Ghosn Jumps Bail Before His Trial and Flees Japan for Lebanon Where He Can’t Be Extradited, 
• Japanese Issue Arrest Warrant for Wife of Carlos Ghosn, 
• Was 2008 the Year When Carlos Ghosn Went Rogue? Ghosn’s Former Speechwriter on What He Did for Nissan – And What That Did to Him