Renault to recall SUVs to fix pollution-control systems

Renault will recall 15,800 of its Captur crossovers to fix pollution-control systems and offer voluntary emissions- system updates for about 700,000 vehicles as the French carmaker seeks to avoid a crisis similar to the one which has hit Volkswagen Group.

The recall begun last month will probably be limited to the 110-horsepower diesel version of the Captur small crossover, the company said Tuesday. Production on the model began in July.

While the Captur has been a very strong seller on the Irish market since its launch - with 1,564 registered in 2015 and 302 up to Monday this year - the 110 dCi diesel engine involved in this recall is not sold in Ireland so the recall will have no affect on Irish owners.

The problem was detected in September, at which point it was fixed, Renault executives said.

“We’re not cheating, we are meeting the norms, and we are not trying to trick the consumer,” said chief executive Thierry Bollore. Fixing the filters in the Captur will take about half a day per engine. The carmaker has lost €3.3 billion in market value since revealing last Thursday that its offices in France were searched by government fraud investigators as part of a probe into vehicle emissions.

Begun last year in the wake of Volkswagen’s cheating on diesel-emission tests, the probe involves testing 100 randomly chosen vehicles, including 25 Renault cars. There are other brands that exceed emissions limits, French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said in an interview with RTL Radio, declining to name them. These carmakers have been summoned to the ministry, she said.

Bloomberg