#French carmaker Citroen charged in ‘dieselgate’ scandal

Citroen became on Thursday the fourth automaker to reveal this week that it has been charged in France in connection with the “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal.

The French automaker was charged by authorities over allegations of “deception” related to the sale of Euro 5 diesel vehicles in France between 2009 and 2015, its parent company Stellantis said in a statement.

The company was ordered to place a deposit of eight million euros and provide 25 million euros in bank guarantees to cover potential compensation payouts, Stellantis said.

Germany’s Volkswagen, French rival Renault and another Stellanits unit, Peugeot, all announced this week that they had been charged over diesel emissions.

The scandal erupted in 2015 when a US investigation revealed that VW had equipped around 11 million vehicles with devices capable of lowering carbon dioxide emissions during tests, even though actual emissions could be up to 40 times higher.

The company later admitted to the trickery, dealing a massive blow to its reputation for solid engineering and well-built, high-performance vehicles.

Fines, legal fees and vehicle refits, recalls and compensation have already cost VW some 32 billion euros while other brands, including Fiat Chrysler, BMW, Porsche and Daimler have also been caught up in the dieselgate affair.

© 2021 AFP