Investing.com - The European auto sector was higher in midday trade on Monday, despite a steep decline in shares of Renault (PA:RENA), which were set for their worst day in more than two years.
Renault shares sank as much as 15% in Paris to hit their lowest level since October 2014 after Nissan said it was moving to oust chairman Carlos Ghosn, who doubles as Renault's chairman and chief executive, after finding that he had used company money for personal use and committed several other serious acts of misconduct.
The Japanese automaker said that based on a whistleblower report, it had been investigating possible improper practices of Ghosn for several months.
Shares were last off by 10.6% by 6:35AM ET (1135GMT).
However, other automakers across the continent fared much better. The broader European auto sector index (SXAP) was up around 0.2% in midday trade.
French automaker Peugeot SA (PA:PEUP) tacked on 0.7% in Paris.
In Germany, BMW AG (DE:BMWG), Porsche SE (DE:PSHG_p) and Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) were all in positive territory, trading higher by 1.4%, 1.1% and 0.9% respectively.
Italian automakers were also higher, with Fiat NV (MI:FCHA) and Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) NV (MI:RACE) gaining 0.6% and 0.5%.