French carmaker reportedly concerned mounting costs of tighter EU emissions tests could kill off diesel engine for many of its models
Renault expects to stop selling European cars with diesel engines in future after reviewing the costs of meeting stricter emissions standards in the wake of last year's Volkswagen scandal, according to reports.
At a recent internal company meeting, the French carmaker's chief competitiveness officer, Thierry Bollore, is said to have voiced concerns about the outlook for diesel technologies, suggesting making such cars may soon become uneconomical.
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According to Reuters, there are concerns within the French car giant that tighter diesel emissions testing standards due come into force in Europe in the next few years will push up the costs of technology and development to the point where diesel is forced out of the market.
Any move from the firm to stop selling diesel models would be significant, with Renault having invested heavily in diesel technology in the past, but Reuters reports the firm could potentially stop producing diesel engines for cars such as the Clio and the Megane.
More than 60 per cent of the 1.6 million Renault cars sold in Europe last year were diesels. Renault has itself faced probes over its emissions in the wake of the VW emissions scandal.
The latest developments follow the global scandal last year that saw US authorities uncover how VW had deliberately installed software in some of its diesel vehicles designed to get around emissions tests.
VW's share price subsequently dropped as it was forced to offer fixes for millions of affected customers in the US, Europe and other parts of the world, and EU lawmakers have since sought to close emissions testing loopholes by agreeing new, stricter tests based on real world driving from 2019.
Last month, diesel emissions tests carried out by Emissions Analytics found Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda and Hyundai have all launched diesel models in 2016 with NOx emissions that are still far higher than the official lab-based test when driven in real-world conditions.
In the UK, consumers were given incentives to purchase diesel vehicles in the early 2000s by the UK government in a bid to drive down CO2 emissions. However, while diesels produced lower CO2 emissions compared to petrol, various scientific analysis has suggested diesels also produce higher levels of air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx).
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