Renault has been charged with a complaint from the French Ministry of Justice. The car manufacturer is suspected of cheating with the software of older diesels. According to Renault, no illegal activities have taken place.
The news is quite striking, because the French authorities concluded in 2016 that Renault did not use cheating software on its diesel engines. In 2017, however, a new investigation was opened, from which the conclusion is now drawn that Renault has cheated after all. As a result of the indictment, Renault must already pay a deposit of € 20 million and provide a bank guarantee of € 60 million to compensate possible damage. The company has not yet been definitively labeled as guilty. After such a charge, one can take the case to court, which then considers the issue.
According to Renault, there is nothing wrong. In a statement, the car manufacturer denies ever committing an offense. Renault states that its cars have never been equipped with cheating software and that they always acted in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. Chief engineer Gilles Le Borgne called the charge “incorrect and incomprehensible” in a call with journalists. “What we know about the Volkswagen case is not at all the same for Renault,” quotes Automotive News Le Borgne. “We don’t have cheating software in our cars and we never have.” That denial is in line with what Renault said last year following an investigation in the United Kingdom.
The engines that the researchers examined were produced from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2017. Earlier, Le Borgne, who switched from PSA to Renault last year, already indicated that Renault will stop developing new diesel engines. However, the current engines will still remain in the catalog.