France charges Peugeot with consumer fraud in diesel emissions probe

Peugeot Invest SA

09/06/2021 23:53

June 9 (Reuters) - Stellantis  STLA.MI  said on Wednesday a
French court has charged its Peugeot unit with consumer fraud in
a far-reaching diesel emissions probe, ordering the company to
provide 30 million euros ($36 million) in guarantees for
potential payouts.
    The Judicial Court of Paris has also ordered Citroen and FCA
Italy, two other Stellantis units, to appear in court over the
coming weeks as part of the same investigation, the company said
on Wednesday.
    The Peugeot investigation focuses on older diesel vehicles
sold in France between 2009 and 2015 and stems from a wider
probe French authorities launched in 2017 over alleged emissions
test cheating by diesel vehicle manufacturers.
    Stellantis in a statement said Peugeot was assessing its
defense options in the case. 
    "The companies firmly believe that their emission control
systems met all applicable requirements at the relevant times
and continue to do so and look forward to the opportunity to
demonstrate that," said Stellantis, which was formed earlier
this year after a merger between Fiat Chrysler and the French
PSA Group.
    Several European carmarkers have come under scrutiny since
the Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  "dieselgate" scandal which erupted in
2015 over test cheating in the United States.
    A French court on Tuesday charged carmaker Renault  RENA.PA 
with alleged deception and test manipulation of some of its
older diesel vehicles.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NQ51U
    French prosecutors looking in to Renault and Peugeot said
they had found that some of the cars produced on-the-road
nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions more than 10 times regulatory
limits for some models, according to reports of the
investigation from 2019.
    Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it had rigged engine
software with "defeat devices" to cheat U.S. diesel tests, a
scandal that has since cost the group more than 32 billion euros
in fines, refits and legal costs and reverberated across the
industry.
 ($1 = 0.8213 euro)

 (Reporting by Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((Tina.Bellon@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 573 5029; Reuters
Messaging: tina.bellon.thomsonreuters@reuters.net; Twitter
@TinaBellon))