There are recalls every day in the automotive industry. But this is not trivial. Citroën recently launched a vast campaign involving nearly half a million cars worldwide, C3s and DS 3s produced from 2009 to 2019, including around 250,000 in France.
Beyond the scale of the recall, it is above all the seriousness of the defect that sends shivers down the spine. These cars, like tens of millions of others around the world, were equipped with defective airbags from the former Japanese equipment manufacturer Takata. “THE [gaz] propellant in the driver and passenger airbags may deteriorate over time. In the event of an accident in which the airbags deploy, they could rupture with too much force, injuring the vehicle occupants., explains the recall campaign, which recommends that drivers no longer get behind the wheel of their car. Small metal parts could also be thrown into the occupants’ faces if the front airbags were to be triggered.
Globally, Stellantis ensures that 14,000 cars have already been repaired. 60,000 replacement vehicles, including 25,000 in France, are planned for affected customers. However, the network seems outdated and the waiting time announced to customers sometimes exceeds a month. Some were even advised to contact Takata directly… which filed for bankruptcy in 2017!
Deadly consequences
Yes, but this reminder comes too late for some. The Parisian thus reports that a judicial investigation was opened in June 2023 in Guadeloupe, to “involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter by legal entity”. A 44-year-old woman lost her life behind the wheel of a Citroën C3 and “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 airbag having been triggered without prior shock. The airbag model defective happened to be a model manufactured by a Japanese company, namely the equipment manufacturer Takata”explains prosecutor Xavier Sicot.
Another judicial investigation was opened in Pointe-à-Pitre, indicates Parisian lawyer Grégory Guyard. This time it concerns three deaths and two serious injuries. Finally, in Guyana, a judicial investigation against X for manslaughter was opened after the death of a woman in Matoury.
The Leguevaques law firm is preparing “a collective civil action whose objective will be to obtain compensation, linked to the disturbance of enjoyment and the effects on the value of the property, but also a collective criminal action”. The firm was in fact contacted “by people whose loved ones have been victims of fatal dysfunctions”.
To find out if your vehicle is affected by a recall campaign, Citroën allows you to enter its serial number on its site.