espionage

  • Renault Twizy Z.E. electric vehicle

    Renault’s paranoia over industrial espionage backfired earlier this week as it struggled with the reality that it had been duped into believing that three of its executives had been selling electric car secrets to the Chinese. But while Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made a formal apology to the three men and offered to reinstate them in their positions, rumors within the auto industry suggest they may already be receiving job offers from rival firms. One of the exonerated executives, former head of development projects Michel Balthazard, has already rejected Renault’s apology...

  • Carlos Ghosn
    TRICKED: Renault Paranoia Over Electric-Car Secrets Backfires, Shames Execs

    Con men are well known for their ability to sell their victims fake goods, extract money or even con them out of their homes. But con men traditionally prey on individuals, concentrating on the vulnerable, naive or greedy. So just how did con men convince an automotive giant to hand over nearly...

  • Renault Fluence ZE production electric sedan
    Electric Car Espionage: Now With Secret Swiss Bank Account

    Every good spy film has a smattering of illicit love, sexy cars and covert operations. Suspending disbelief, such films make for good entertainment. But for one former Renault employee the real world has taken a turn towards the covert world of James Bond or 24 with accusations that he had an...

  • Renault Fluence EV
    Renault Spy Scandal Update: Prosecutor Begins Inquiries

    2011 has been touted as the year when electric cars will well and truly break into the public consciousness. Unfortunately for Renault, the story making all the headlines so far hasn't been the launch of one of its upcoming Z.E. models, but the news of industrial espionage and selling technical...

  • Renault Fluence EV
    Fighting The Electric Car Pirates: Renault Gets Tough

    Take one look at the news coming out of Detroit this week and you’ll know that the electric car revolution seems well and truly under way. Nearly every major automaker is now extolling the virtues of electric car technology when a few years earlier, they were dismissing them as impractical...

  • Renault Fluence ZE production electric sedan
    Spy Games: Renault Electric Vehicle Work Riddled With Moles?

    Monday morning opened on an anxious note for French automaker Renault. The company said it suspended without pay three executives, who have not yet been named. It fears that details and intellectual property connected to its comprehensive electric-vehicle program were leaked to unnamed parties...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life