Renault to modify 15000 new cars in emission scare

Under the spotlight over high levels of harmful emissions, Renault said Tuesday it was recalling a total of 15,000 cars for engine checks.

“Renault did not cheat”, Koskas said, referring to questions raised last week over how emissions levels could be so different between test conditions and real conditions on the road.

French Energy Minister Segolene Royal said Renault was not the only vehicle company in France to break the rules on carbon dioxide and nitrogen emissions, but she did not name the others involved.

Les Echos said Renault will have to explain why emissions from some cars exceeded the limits and what it was going to do about it.

Renault stated it has not cheated on emissions tests, and that the company respects and follows the test norms and conditons.

Mr Koskas acknowledged that Renault cars, like those of other European brands, emit more nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide under real world driving conditions than under laboratory conditions.

Mr. Koskas didn’t give a specific date for when the plan would be announced. Last week, California regulators rejected the auto maker’s plan to fix almost 500,000 diesel-powered vehicles, calling it vague and inadequate.

Renault pledged to increase sales across the board in 2016 as the global market expands by a forecast 1-2 percent, with European and French demand growth at the upper end of the range.

Deliveries increased to 2.8-million cars and vans a year ago – a record for the group – at a rate that was more than double the global market’s 1.6% rise.

But deliveries dropped 14.8 per cent in South America and 8.6 per cent in Renault’s Eurasia region – mainly Russian Federation – broadly in line with collapsing demand in those markets. Sales in Russian Federation, whose economy has been hit hard by the decline in oil prices, slid 38%. Renault, which sells the vast majority of its cars under its namesake marque and the Dacia budget brand, doesn’t make its cars available in the US and has little presence in China.