Severe embarrassment for France over Renault spying debacle

FRANCE faced severe political embarrassment yesterday after carmaker Renault said the three top executives it sacked for industrial espionage in January might not be spies after all.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the country’s second-biggest autos group must face “all the consequences” now that it thinks it might have been tricked. The scandal has shaken the company to its core, and at one point threatened to trigger a diplomatic spat with China.

Chief operating officer Patrick Pelata said he would “accept the consequences” of the debacle once the inquiry was complete, as he admitted there were reasons to doubt Renault had suffered industrial espionage. A source close to Renault said Pelata would probably have to leave, protecting chief executive Carlos Ghosn, who is also head of partner Nissan Motor. “It’s likely to be Patrick Pelata who forms the shield to protect the CEO,” the source said. “In this story, somebody has to throw themselves on the grenade.”