It was on this day in 1986 that the motor industry was shocked by the brutal assignation of Georges Besse, the CEO of Renault.

The respected 58-year-old died outside his Paris home after he was shot in the head and chest by two attackers on motorbikes after emerging from his chauffeur-driven vehicle.

Soon afterwards the radical anti-capitalist group, Action Directe, claimed responsibility for his killing, stating the murder was in retaliation for his reforms of the loss-making state-owned company, which had involved the laying off of 21,000 workers during his first 18 months in office.

The following year, two women - Nathalie Menignon and Joelle Aubron - were charged with Besse’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Following the assassination, Renault’s famous car assembly plant in the northern French town of Douai was re-named in honour of Besse.

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