Investors ask automakers to explain emissions lobbying

LONDON, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 13 (Reuters) - Leading European investment managers and pension funds controlling nearly $1 trillion have joined forces to call for automakers to better explain how they have lobbied public bodies on emissions standards.

Nineteen investors including AXA Investment Managers, the fund arm of insurer AXA (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) , and the Swedish national pension fund, wrote separate letters to 11 major automakers, retail investor watchdog ShareAction said in a statement.

Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) , BMW (Swiss: BMW.SW - news) , Honda, Daimler (Xetra: 710000 - news) , General Motors (NYSE: GM - news) , Ford, Fiat (Hanover: FIA1.HA - news) , Peugeot (Other OTC: PUGOF - news) and Toyota all received letters requesting information on lobbying around emissions rules being debated in the United States and the European Union.

Another letter was sent to Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan and Renault (Swiss: RNO.SW - news) , as both have been recognised as some of the best performing companies for CO2 emissions, the statement said.

The initiative comes after VW admitted rigging diesel emissions tests, knocking billions of euros off VW's stock market value and throwing the spotlight on practices across the industry.

"When it comes to the engagement underway between a company and the key regulations affecting it, there are often sparse details available to investors," Dylan Tanner, executive director at non-profit group InfluenceMap, which analyses and ranks companies on climate lobbying and influence, and which helped coordinate the sending of the letters.

"The Volkswagen case highlights the need for a much greater disclosure regime, both of the company's specific position on key legislation and its involvement in the policy process."

($1 = 0.6522 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by David Holmes)