PARIS: The Paris prosecutor has launched a judicial investigation into possible cheating on exhaust emissions by the carmaker Renault, a source at the prosecutor's office said on Friday.
Renault shares fell sharply on the news, which comes about two months after the government passed to the prosecutor the findings of an investigation by its consumer fraud agency.
Three judges have been looking into the matter since Thursday, the source said. Whether the prosecutor's inquiry will be followed by a trial is for those judges to decide.
The French investigation into exhaust emissions by Renault engines and whether they broke emissions laws was launched in the aftermath of the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal.
Renault shares were down 2.9% at 10.30am Paris time, having fallen 4% shortly after the market opned.
Renault was not immediately available for comment.
The probe comes after another global automaker, Fiat Chrysler, fell foul of US environmental standards on Thursday. The company was charged with having hidden software on diesel trucks which then spewed out excess emissions.
The Italian-American company immediately denied the charges and pledged to work with President-elect Donald Trump's adminstration to resolve the issue "fairly".
The shockwaves from the Volkswagen emissions scandal are still reverberating around the global auto industry.
US officials said on Wednesday that the German giant would plead guilty to three criminal charges and pay a total of $4.3 billion in fines to settle the emissions cheating scandal known as "dieselgate".
The US Justice Department also charged six Volkswagen executives deemed responsible for the conspiracy, five of whom are believed to be in Germany while one was arrested in Miami on Saturday.
Volkswagen lawyers are reported to have advised senior executives of the company not to travel to the United States.