PSA Groupe has said it is surprised at the decision made by the French Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of fraud department (DGCCRF) to send the conclusions of its investigation (into some kind of fraud involving emissions, though details have not been made public) to the public prosecutor (as previously done for VW, Renault and Fiat, according to Le Figaro).
"In light of the situation, PSA Group will make a clear case for its position… and defend its interests as well as those of its 180,000 employees, its customers and its partners," the automaker said in a statement.
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PSA insisted the group complies with the regulations in force in all countries where it operates, its vehicles have never been equipped with software or devices to detect a compliance test and to activate a pollutant treatment device that would be inactive in customer use and results of tests carried out by different European and French authorities have confirmed that the group's vehicles comply with regulatory tests criteria.
"PSA understands that the DGCCRF's inquiries concern the diesel engines of the old generation Euro5 (standard in force from 2009 to 2015). However, the tests carried out recently on a Euro5 vehicle by the IFPEN did not reveal any anomaly," the statement added.
It said the test results were consistent with the group's approach – explained to various authorities and media – of setting engine parameters according to real-life driver behaviour.
"The group's engines are developed with a priority focus on reducing NOx emissions (nitrogen oxides) in urban environments, while offering the best NOx / CO2 balance under extra-urban conditions over a wide temperature range and without any discontinuity.
"In addition, PSA Group has made the commitment, three years earlier than required, to comply with the real driving emissions (RDE) type-approval requirement that will come into effect in 2020 as part of the future standard. This new procedure will replace the current procedure, which is not representative of customer use.
"Lastly, PSA is the only carmaker in the world to have initiated a process of total transparency on the consumption and CO2 emissions of its models in real use."
It said it had established a protocol of measures defined with two NGOs and a certification agency. More than 50 models had been tested models over 35,000 kilometres and test results were available on the Peugeot, Citroën and DS brand websites.
"This transparency campaign will be extended to NOx emissions this year," PSA added.
Gilles Le Borgne, PSA's research and development chief, said: "We are surprised by the announcement, particularly as PSA is proud to be the forerunner in the development of pollution-reducing technologies such as the particulate filter and selective catalytic reduction (SCR), as well as the leader in reducing CO2 emissions, and the pioneer in transparency with its customers on consumption in real use. As France's leading car exporter, PSA will therefore fight to defend its technologies, its know-how and its competitiveness in support of French industry."
