Renault SA Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said he has “multiple” evidence that some of the company’s executives have been involved in leaks of its business model about the electric cars it’s developing.
“We have certainties,” Ghosn said on TF1 television today. “All these elements will be passed on to justice.”
Company secrets that may have been stolen regard business plans to make electric cars “affordable,” Ghosn said. “We have no evidence that the technology” was leaked, he said.
Renault, based in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, on Jan. 13 filed a criminal complaint, citing allegations of industrial espionage, corruption, breach of trust and theft, Bloomberg reported. Three executives who have been fired have denied wrongdoing.
Renault and alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. have invested a combined 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in electric-car technology, including lithium-ion batteries developed by the Japanese carmaker in a venture with NEC Corp. to power its Leaf model and other Renault vehicles.
The spying case will “in no case” lead Renault to delay the launch of three electric cars this year, Ghosn also told TF1 today.
