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France launches probe into Volkswagen fraud

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

France has launched an investigation into whether German car maker Volkswagen had also used defeat device software in some of its diesel vehicles in France, the country's Environment Minister Segolene Royal said on Tuesday.

"I asked the U.S. Federal Agency of Environmental Protection to obtain all relevant information to assess the nature of fraud and the means used to detect it," Royal said in a statement.

"I also asked domestic manufacturers to ensure that such similar practices have not taken place in France," she added.

On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that Volkswagen (VW) had installed illegal software to falsify emission tests, allowing its diesel cars to produce up to 40 times more pollution than allowed.

The U.S. government has ordered VW to recall 482,000 VW and Audi cars produced since 2009, placing Germany's leading auto manufacturer on hot seat.

On Monday, Volkswagen reported a heavy loss of 15 billion euros (16.68 billion U.S. dollars) of its market value. The company's stocks tumbled 20 percent on Tuesday trading session. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S.dollars) Endit