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France closes Opel investigation

Posted on 20 March, 2017

French regulator DGCCRF closed its investigation into diesel emissions by Opel cars overnight and said it would take no further action against General Motors. The probe “did not bring to light any evidence of fraud,” the government bureau said in a statement. Questions around Opel (and its British counterpart Vauxhall) have been swirling since the Volkswagen scandal first broke in September 2015. In October 2015, German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe claimed that testing showed the 1.6-litre diesel Opel Zafira exceeded 2014 EU emissions thresholds under certain circumstances. The following May, a joint investigation between Der Spiegel and German news programme monitor suggested a number of Zafira and Insignia diesel models to contain devices that would deactivate filtration systems. The German transport ministry demanded answers from General Motors and Opel, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing. In response, Opel published a lengthy report explaining how and why the software uncovered by the investigation was technically legal under EU emissions regulations. Last month, Opel was sold to PSA Group, which includes the Citroen and Peugeot marques, as GM sought to extricate itself from its struggling European holdings.