Ο nightmare for the Renaultnow it's started... Losses almost EUR 5 billion Renault had the biggest correction (up to 13.5%)) in Thursday's session on the Paris stock exchange. After the French news agency revealed that the French authorities had launched investigations into possible violations in emissions of the automaker's vehicles, its shares began to plummet by 10.3% (closed at fall -10,28%, at 77,75 euros, while during the session the fall had reached 20%).
It was the worst day for Renault since 1994, when it entered the CAC 40, as foreign and French funds moved to mass liquidations, as a result of reports that Reanult is also involved in emissions scandalsimilar to the one that recently shook the Volkswagen dragging down the German car industry.
With the Peugeot retreating by 5,2%, the Fiat by 8,9% and the Daimler AG by 3.9%, the French Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron, rather frightened by the "crash" that seemed to be coming, was quick to entertain the impression: "This is in no way a situation comparable to that of Volkswagen", he said, stressing that his "confidence in the Reno group" remains undiminished, adding that his services have conducted "many checks and investigations since September to verify the reliability and the quality of the information provided to consumers".
The French Minister for the Environment, Ségolène Royal, made it clear that the checks carried out on Renault's cars did not disclose the existence of counterfeiting software of the emission results of the French car industry's diesel engines.
“There was no fraud to Renault. Shareholders and employees can rest easy," he claimed.
The French Ministry of Economic Affairs visited some of Renault's premises involved in standards testing and engine certification, carried out checks and confiscated computers. This event left the impression that the investigation is related to emissions standards, in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal.Since September, when the US regulator disclosed that Volkswagen had cheated on the testing of diesel vehicles, car manufacturers have been under scrutiny. The French authorities launched an investigation into VW in September and pledged to extend it to all car manufacturers, including Renault and Peugeot/Citroen.
But the damage had already been done. Its size is given by the numbers: With a valuation of about 21 billion euros (after today's... downturn), i.e. as much as 12-13% of Greek GDP, Renault and Peugeot are the "automotive duo" among the 40 listed companies/shares of the main stock market index CAC 40. The 5 billion lost by Renault in one day is not negligible.
