PSA Peugeot Citroen has said that testing of its vehicles’ emissions systems by French authorities returned an ‘absence of abnormalities’.

In a statement issued after details of a search of Renault facilities by French authorities prompted a 20% slump in its share prices, Peugeot said that it had not been subject to similar scrutiny, but tests had been carried out to determine its vehicles’ compliance.

The statement issued by Peugeot said: “The results of the tests conducted by the technical committee led by French environment minister Ségolène Royal have now been communicated to us. These results attest to the absence of anomalies on PSA Peugeot Citroën vehicles.

“The purpose of the tests, which were carried out by French testing laboratory UTAC, was to verify vehicle compliance with regard to pollutant emissions. The test results confirm the validity of PSA Peugeot Citroen’s choices in terms of pollutant emission treatment technology.

“These initial results also confirm the effectiveness of the BlueHDi after-treatment system, which includes selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology positioned upstream of the particulate filter, to treat the nitrogen oxides (NOx) released by diesel engines. This technology has been deployed on all of the Group’s Euro6 vehicles since late 2013.”

The statement added: “PSA Peugeot Citroën has not been the subject of a search by France’s General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF).”

In reference to searches of its Renault Lardy Technical Centre and the Guyancourt Technocentre, Renault insisted that investigators had found "no evidence of a defeat device equipping Renault vehicles".

It said that the company would fully co-operate with any investigations, adding that the visits to its facilities had been carried out “in order to definitively confirm the first findings resulting from the analysis of the independent technical commission”.