The manufacturer could extend the recall of the C3 and DS3 to the north of France and carry out a recall of the C4, DS4 and DS5, according to Le Parisien.
Will the massive recall campaign for Stellantis vehicles (Peugot, Citroën, etc.) be expanded? While the C3 and DS3 built between 2009 and 2019 in circulation south of a Lyon – Clermont-Ferrand line are the subject of a recall due to a defect in the airbags supplied by the Japanese company Takata, other models could soon be recalled by the manufacturer, indicates The Parisian .
According to the daily, the C4, DS4 and DS5 built at the same period and also equipped with Takata airbags should be targeted by a recall campaign. “Mails began to be sent in batches, depending on the age of the vehicles”, writes the daily, which also specifies that the manufacturer could also extend the recall already in progress for the C3 and DS3 to the whole of France. These new recalls, which could affect several million vehicles, would however be less restrictive than the one already in progress which prohibits, in theory, drivers from using their car before having had the airbags changed.
Contacted by Le FigaroStellantis refuses to confirm or deny the information from Parisian on these possible new recalls. The manufacturer refers to a press release indicating that “the ongoing “stop drive” recall campaign [qui demande aux conducteurs d’arrêter immédiatement d’utiliser les véhicules concernés, NDLR] concerns the 530,000 DS 3 and C3 vehicles manufactured between 2009 and 2019 and equipped with a specific reference of Takata airbags for which a risk has been identified. No risk has been identified for other models equipped with other components.” A position which does not evoke potential future massive vehicle recalls, without closing the door.
Ongoing legal proceedings
“Risks associated with Takata airbags are continually monitored and managed through routine recalls”, adds Stellantis. The faulty Takata airbags used a gas that deteriorates in hot, humid climates.
Shortly before the launch of the recall procedure in mainland France, a case affected the Hautes-Pyrénées region. Aged 51, the driver of a C3 died on the road in Garlan on November 18, 2023. His car was “equipped with a Takata airbag which is linked to the accident”according to the public prosecutor of Tarbes who is considering “to open a judicial investigation given the potential multiple responsibilities”. This is the first accident recorded in mainland France, while in the overseas territories – the first risk zone due to its climate – tragic examples have been accumulating since 2020.
In Guyana, an investigation to “manslaughter” was opened after the death of Carole Mathurin in December 2020. In Reunion, two procedures “possibly linked to airbags” are in progress concerning the death of Emmanuelle Sauger at the wheel of her DS3 in September 2021 and a serious accident which occurred in November 2022 in a C3, detailed in Figaro the Saint-Denis prosecutor, Véronique Denizot. In Guadeloupe, justice is investigating five accidents, including three fatalities, which took place between 2020 and 2023 on C3s. One of them, in which a 44-year-old mother died in May 2023, was caused by the triggering of the Takata airbag “without prior shock”, underlines the prosecutor of Basse-Terre, Xavier Sicot. And to add: “The autopsy revealed that the death resulted from the projection of a metal element from the driver’s airbag towards the victim’s head.”
The failure of Takata airbags is not limited to brands belonging to Stellantis: according to our information, Guadeloupe recently extended its extensive judicial investigation to two other fatal cases that occurred in 2020 on a Ford and a Toyota. At the same time, two preliminary investigations are continuing in Pointe-à-Pitre for “unintentional injuries” on Nissan vehicles and could in turn be attached to the instruction. “We are waiting for expert reports”tells us the prosecutor, Caroline Calbo.
