involvement Archives

Renault’s zero-emissions lineup

The industrial espionage case involving three top Renault execs and electric vehicle secrets (and maybe China) continues, as the French carmaker has officially filed an accusation against a foreign private company. The company involved was not made public, but the filing does not cite a foreign power, according to Jean-Claude Marin, a Paris prosecutor, in Reuters. In fact, the French government began stepping away from rumors that China is involved with this industrial espionage case. Even still, a member of the conservative UMP party told France-Info radio that, “There are in effect several sources that are typically thought to be serious who consider that a Chinese buyer is in fact behind this operation.” That buyer might be a Chinese power company, which French newspaper Le Figaro reported laundered at least 630,000 Euros (around $841,800 U.S.) into bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein opened by the executives. For its part, China has denied any involvement.

Prosecutor Marin must now make a decision to either oversee his own investigation or to open a judicial inquiry that will go before an independent magistrate. The French intelligence service, Direction Centrale du Renseignement Intérieur (DCRI), has also been looking into the case.

We still don’t know the details of what was allegedly stolen, but Renault Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata tells Reuters that the company’s key technology for electric vehicles is still safe. Nissan executive Carlos Tavares said he “completely trusts” Renault in handling the matter. The Renault-Nissan alliance has invested 4 billion euros ($5.17 billion) in electric vehicles.

The three senior Renault executives who have been suspended are denying their guilt. A lawyer for the highest-ranking of the three defendants notes, “He’s shocked by it, let’s be clear about it… He’s going to clear his name.” Another described his suspension as Kafkaesque, and that the men are reportedly still trying to figure out what they are being accused of. So are we.

[Sources: Reuters, Independent, Economic Times, The Wall Street Journal, Plug In Cars]

China denies involvement in Renault EV spy case; over $841k found in secret bank accounts? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Lotus

To say that Lotus has its hands full would be a gross understatement. In addition to the five new concept cars which the British automaker and engineering firm unveiled in Paris this year, Lotus is also expanding its racing programs in a big way. The House that Colin Built expressed its intentions to do so nearly a year ago, but as with the complete revamp of its entire product range, we didn’t expect anything quite this drastic. Looks like we ought to be listening when the folks at Lotus speak.

In addition to the controversial licensing partnership that led to the marque’s return to Formula One, Lotus has announced a whole slew of racing programs upon which it is embarking on in the near future. First up is the expansion of its Indy racing team – operated in partnership with former Champ Car chief Kevin Kalkhoven’s KV Racing – from one car to two. Cosworth will undoubtedly be dropped from the effort as the F1 team switches to Renault power (the team also announcing a partnership with Red Bull Racing to use its gearboxes and other technologies for next season), and Lotus will be developing its own aerodynamics package on the new adaptable chassis that takes to the grid in 2012.

Moving beyond, Lotus is also teaming up with ART Grand Prix – champions of several single-seater feeder series – in both the GP2 and GP3 championships. (Lotus F1 chief Tony Fernandez meanwhile announced the launch of his own GP2 team running under the Air Asia banner.)

Not enough? Lotus isn’t stopping there. Based on the enthusiasm garnered by the Evora GT4, Lotus is working on both GT3 and GT2 versions of the car, as well as a GT2 racer based on the new generation of vehicles displayed in Paris, though they aren’t saying which one just yet. (That may be largely a marketing decision though, as the vehicles share a common architecture.) Last but not least, Lotus is also crafting a purpose-built, closed-cockpit Le Mans Prototype conforming to the ACO’s LMP2 formula. That’s a whole lot of racing goin’ on, and there’s yet more to read about in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Lotus]

Continue reading Lotus to expand involvement in Indy, GP2, GP3, GT and Le Mans racing

Lotus to expand involvement in Indy, GP2, GP3, GT and Le Mans racing originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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