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Espionage scandal rocks Renault

Paris - French Industry Minister Eric Besson on Thursday warned the country was facing "economic war" following an industrial espionage scandal at carmaker Renault.

"Unfortunately, the affair appears serious," Besson said on RTL radio, after discussing the issue with Renault management.

"The expression 'economic war', while sometimes outrageous, for once is appropriate," he said, calling for improvements in industrial security at companies who receive public money.

"It appears to concern the electric car, but I do not want to go further," said Besson.

Renault said on Wednesday it had suspended three managers for leaking secrets about electric cars, with the company staking its future on environmentally friendly vehicles and aiming to produce them for the general market.

Renault responds

The industrial espionage posed a serious threat to the French carmaker's "strategic assets", the company said on Thursday.

This decision to suspended three managers for leaking secrets about its electric cars, was to "protect, without delay, the strategic, intellectual and technological assets of our company," senior vice president Christian Husson said.

"For Renault, this is a very serious incident concerning persons in a particularly strategic position in the company," he said.

A months-long probe had established a "body of evidence which shows that the actions of these three colleagues were contrary to the ethics of Renault and knowingly and deliberately placed at risk the company's assets," said Husson.

Renault has staked its future on electric cars as carmakers face up to rising demand for more environmentally friendly methods of transport.

The suspensions were the latest in a series of industrial espionage scandals to hit France's huge and strategically important auto industry.

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