Major European asset owners and managers have written to car manufacturers demanding details of political lobbying over emissions legislation.
A group of 19 institutions—including four of Sweden’s AP funds—contacted nine companies for the information, in the wake of the exposure of Volkswagen’s use of software to manipulate emissions data in millions of its cars. The scandal led to the resignation of its CEO and a collapse in its share price.
Signatories to the letters include Sweden’s AP2, AP3, AP4, and AP7, alongside the UK’s Environment Agency Pension Fund, Finnish insurer Ilmarinen, and asset managers AXA IM and WHEB Group.
The investors demanded information about the companies’ lobbying and their stances regarding new emissions standards in the US and Europe. The car manufacturers contacted include Volkswagen, BMW, Honda, Daimler, General Motors, Ford, Fiat, Peugeot, and Toyota.
The letters also requested disclosure of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association’s (EAMA) activities. It emerged last week that the association had lobbied European politicians for a delay to rules that would cap how much nitrogen oxide cars could emit. A separate letter was sent by the investors to Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan and chair of the EAMA.
A statement from ShareAction, one of the investor groups that helped co-ordinate the letters, said the details requested “could be crucial for investors in predicting future crises like the one at Volkswagen”.
Volkswagen’s share price has dipped by 26% since the start of September, following revelations that software installed in approximately 11 million of its cars sold since 2009 may have falsified emissions data. Regulators are investigating the firm’s activities and at least one US state has threaten to sue over the scandal.