Will Peugeot’s dieselgate cause Stellantis to skid?
Peugeot was convicted of dieselgate by the Paris court. Citroen and FCA Italy Spa (now Stellantis) were also cited to appear before the judge. All the details
The Dieselgate controversy returns to the headlines, as car manufacturers try to plan the end of diesel engines.
The protagonist, this time, is Peugeot, a company wholly owned by Stellantis , which according to the accusations would have tampered with the pollution tests during the homologation of vehicles using software that have underestimated the real level of pollution.
All the details.
PERFORMANCE ON THE STOCK BAG
Let's start with the consequences. Stellantis, in the wake of the news of the investigation in charge of Pegeout, brakes in Piazza Affari: in the morning, writes Il Sole 24 ore Radicor , the shares of the car manufacturer, which controls the French company, accelerated downwards, coming to sell over 2%. Currently, at 11.40, the stock loses 1.74% to 16.93 euros.
THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PEUGEOT FOR THE DIESELGATE
The poor performance is due to the involvement of the French Peugeot in the judicial investigation concerning several car manufacturers which began in 2016 and 2017. The car manufacturer was put 'en examen' by the Judicial Court of Paris on charges of falsifying, between 2009 and 2015, the pollution tests during the homologation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles that would be sold in France.
OVER FIVE YEARS OF DIESELGATE INVESTIGATION
The first investigations started in 2015, the year in which the first scandal on the Dieselgate broke out in Germany due to Volkswagen. In France, writes Le Figaro , already in 2017 a judicial investigation had condemned Volkswagen, Renault, Fiat and Psa. Then, everything stopped due to the referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the French justice.
The European Court ruled only in December 2020, stating that "a manufacturer cannot install an invalidation device that systematically improves the performance of the emission control system" of polluting gases "during the approval procedures".
INSUFFICIENT PRODUCERS JUSTIFICATION
The European court, with its ruling, rejected the justifications brought by some car manufacturers, according to which the offending device "helps prevent aging".
PENALTY IN SIGHT
Now Peugeot will have to pay a deposit of 10 million euros, of which 8 million for the potential payment of damages and penalties and 2 million to guarantee the representation of the company in court, and will have to provide a bank guarantee of 30 million euros dedicated to potential compensation. of damage.
The French company is working on possible new defense options.
NOT ONLY PEUGEOT
Peugeot is only the latest in a long series to be condemned. Meanwhile, within Stellantis, Citroen SA and FCA Italy Spa were also summoned to appear before the Judicial Court of Paris, respectively on 10 June and in July.
EQUITA CONFIRMS THE BUY
All this does not worry Equita analysts, who reiterate the 'Buy' recommendation on Stellantis shares, indicating a price target of 20 euros.
"The news is obviously negative, but the size of the risk at present appears modest". The sim experts argue.
BANCA AKROS: LIMITED FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES
Even Banca Akros, which confirmed the 'Buy' recommendation with a price target of 18, argues that the financial consequences of the investigation are limited, so in the end they will not impact the shares that much.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/il-dieselgate-di-peugeot-fara-sbandare-stellantis/ on Thu, 10 Jun 2021 11:10:45 +0000.