Volkswagen, Renault shares hit by rare ‘sell’ rating as Chinese competition grows

London CNN — Shares in Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen and its French rival Renault dropped sharply Friday after UBS analysts recommended investors dump the stocks, citing the growing threat to their business from Chinese competitors. Volkswagen was down 4.4% in late afternoon trade in Europe and Renault 5.6% lower, while the benchmark STOXX Europe 600 index was flat. On Thursday, analysts at Swiss bank UBS downgraded their recommendation on both stocks to "sell" from "neutral." "We believe it unlikely VW can weather the upcoming Chinese advance without negative earnings impact," Patrick Hummel, David Lesne and Juan Perez-Carrascosa wrote in a…