French Tells Eight Car Makers to Cut Emissions

PARIS—French authorities have asked eight car manufacturers to present plans to reduce emissions levels for vehicles that failed tests carried out in the wake of the Volkswagen AG emissions-cheating scandal.

French Environment Minister Sé golè ne Royal on Thursday said some cars made by Renault SA, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Nissan Motor Co., General Motors Co.'s Opel and Ford Motor Co. failed some of the tests ordered after the largest German car maker admitted cheating diesel-emissions tests.

She also held out the prospect of halting sales of cars whose manufacturers' proposals aren't adequate. "For new cars, regulators will decide whether the proposed measures are sufficient or whether it is justified to suspend sales," Ms. Royal said in a statement.

A spokeswoman at Renault didn't return phone calls seeking comments and spokespeople weren't immediately available at PSA Peugeot Citroen.

In September, Volkswagen admitted to using a so-called defeat device that could detect when a car was being tested and modify its performance, to ensure the car's emissions remained within limits during the testing period.

The tests carried out by French authorities didn't find any such defeat device in the 52 cars tested.

As a result of the Volkswagen scandal, officials questioned whether the emissions tests sufficiently reflected on-road driving conditions. Ms. Royal then ordered tests to be carried out in driving conditions. Those tests showed emissions levels are much higher than official data revealed.

Last week, German car makers were forced to recall about 630,000 cars to fix emissions-management software after a series of tests were carried out in that country.

Write to Inti Landauro at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 28, 2016 20:45 ET (00:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.