Around 120,000 UK motorists have been advised to stop driving their Citroën C3 and DS3 vehicles (models built from 2009-2016, and some DS3s from 2016-2019) due to a potentially lethal airbag fault. Stellantis, Citroën’s parent company, issued the “stop-drive” instruction after a fatal accident in France last month, where a faulty Takata airbag deployed with excessive force, causing metal fragments to strike a motorist.
This development is part of a decade-long global recall affecting an estimated 100 million vehicles fitted with airbags from the now-defunct Japanese supplier, Takata. The issue stems from explosive chemicals in the airbags becoming volatile over time, especially in warm, humid conditions, leading to dangerous over-inflation and metal shrapnel.
Many affected Citroën owners, such as Lisa Shackleton, 69, are facing long waits for repairs, causing significant disruption to their daily lives and pre-booked travel plans. Stellantis acknowledged that customer inconvenience is “inevitable” given the large number of vehicles affected. While the company stated it is “working to maximise” daily repairs and prioritising urgent cases, it has no current plans to offer compensation.
Originally, Stellantis believed only Takata airbags made in non-European factories or those in hot, humid regions were affected. However, incidents involving European-made airbags in 2019 led to a Europe-wide recall in April last year, which intensified to a “stop-drive” action across the continent, including the UK, on 20th June.
Owners have reported poor communication and inconsistent messages from dealerships. It remains unclear how customers should transport their undriveable vehicles to dealerships for the necessary airbag replacement. Stellantis is “investigating options of airbag replacement at other sites… including at home.”
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) supports Stellantis’ “stop-drive” recall and is working with the company to raise awareness, but currently has no plans for a wider recall in the UK.
Source: BBC News
Ken
Our local Citroen agent managed to get supplies of replacement airbags and we only had a 10 day wait to get the job done. However, he told me further stocks were in short supply as European customers were being given priority. More worrying was the fact that he said there were a vast number of Vauxhall cars with the same problem but that they hadn’t had the “stop driving” instructions. Figure that out.