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Paris - French carmakers on Tuesday backed a call for a European probe into the monitoring of vehicle emissions systems in the wake of the scandal rocking Volkswagen.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin said a "Europe-wide" probe was needed after revelations that hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen diesel cars were fitted with software that secretly thwarts pollution tests in the US.
Sapin told Europe 1 radio that in order to "reassure" the public, it was "necessary" to carry out checks on cars manufactured by other European carmakers.
"We are in a European market, with European rules that need to be respected," Sapin said.
"Even if it's just to reassure people, it seems necessary to me that (checks should be carried out) also on French carmakers," he said.
The French carmakers' federation CCFA supported the idea, saying such an investigation "will allow us to confirm that French carmakers respect the procedures for approval in all of the countries where they operate".
According to US authorities, VW admitted that it had equipped about 482 000 cars in the US with sophisticated software that covertly turns off pollution controls when the car is being driven and turns them on only when it detects that the car is undergoing an emissions test.
But VW revealed Tuesday that 11 million diesel cars worldwide are equipped with the device.
The German giant's share price plunged sharply for a second day on Tuesday.
