Don’t look now, but Renault may be pulling a Volkswagen.
The French company’s shares fell by as much as 23% on Thursday after an apparent raid on what a union official described as “sites that have to do with standards testing and engine certification.”
Earlier, AFP reported that the agents from the fraud office of France’s Economy Ministry visited the sites last week seizing computers as part of an apparent probe into emissions testing.
As Bloomberg notes, “French authorities started a probe in September into whether VW deceived customers about the emissions levels of its diesel cars and promised to expand the probe to cover all carmakers, including Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen.”
Peurgeot shares fell nearly 10% in sympathy.
The news rattled carmakers from France to Germany where the market is still on edge after the Volkswagen scandal rocked the country's auto industry to the core last year.
Florent Grimaldi, the CGT labor official who spoke to the press, said the searches were conducted at company offices at Lardy near Paris.
The stock's 20% plunge is the largest single day decline in 17 years, reflecting investor fears that the scope of the probe could mirror what unfolded at its German rival.
The company has so far declined to comment but is expected to issue a statement shortly.