US executive blasts 'extremist' French government

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An outspoken American CEO criticised France's government anew on Thursday, but praised French women and wine and said that he himself was named after the iconic crooner Maurice Chevalier.

A day after an incendiary letter by Maurice Taylor rocked France, Titan's chief executive pumped more fuel into the fire with a new missive scolding the French government's "extremist" policies toward private business.

Taylor told Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg that France's political class was "out of touch (with) real world problems."

"The extremist, Mr Minister, is your government and the lack of knowledge about how to build a business," he said.