PARIS (Reuters) – Dozens of French owners of Renault, Dacia and Nissan will jointly file a criminal complaint on Monday against car manufacturers for faulty engines fitted to their vehicles, the newspaper Le Parisien reported in its edition on Friday.
The complaint will be filed with the Nanterre Criminal Court (Hauts-de-Seine) for various reasons, including “aggravated deception, deceptive commercial practices” or “fraud, destruction, damage and deterioration dangerous for people, endangering the life of others”, specifies the daily, which quotes their lawyer.
This “massive” collective action is the result of fruitless negotiations between the plaintiffs and Renault Group regarding problems of overconsumption of oil, premature wear of their engines and even breakage of the 1.2 TCe engine, a petrol unit fitted to 400,000 vehicles from 2012 to 2016.
In total, 1,872 victims came forward, writes Le Parisien. “The other victims will become civil parties as soon as an investigating judge has been appointed”, declared to the Parisian Christophe Lèguevaques, the lawyer for the motorists who will file a complaint.
Contacted by Reuters, Renault was not immediately available to comment on this information.
The French manufacturer had indicated a year ago that some 133,000 cars of the three brands of the group, but also Mercedes, were potentially affected in France.
Renault has admitted that the engine, produced in Spain and the UK between 2012 and 2016, suffered from overconsumption of oil but the group considers that there is no safety problem. He wants proof that the regulatory authorities have never ordered a recall campaign.
A spokesperson for the diamond brand reaffirmed to Reuters on Friday that Renault Group had never stopped and continued “to examine the requests addressed to it”.
“The requests to participate which could not be granted have all been carefully examined for their constituent elements and a response has been provided.”
“Also, Renault Group invites its customers to trust it to support them in the event of difficulties encountered in the use of their vehicle.”
Christophe Lèguevaques, lawyer behind the Myleo platform which brings the so-called “joint collective action”, told Le Parisien that it was the lack of significant progress in this case that prompted his clients to decide to bring complaint.
(Written by Tangi Salaün, with Gilles Guillaume, edited by Nicolas Delame)
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