The infamous Takata airbag scandal, which began in 2014, has resurfaced in the automotive world. Due to a deadly incident last week in France, Citroën is immobilizing all its C3 and DS3 models in the whole of Europe. 441,000 vehicles are concerned.
Last week, a 37-year-old woman died on a French motorway near Reims in her Citroën C3 because the airbag exploded and caused severe injuries, leading to the death of the driver. As soon as the cause of death was confirmed ot be the untimely explosion of the Takata airbag, the French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, asked for the immediate immobilization of all Citroën cars concerned until their airbags were replaced.
Some hours later, Xavier Chardon, the new CEO of Citroën, called for a ‘stop drive’ in the whole of Europe for the vehicles concerned. This means that all C3 and DS3 cars sold, amounting to approximately 441,000, are immobilized immediately and are not allowed to drive again until they are repaired.
“It is important that all clients contact us,” declared Xavier Chardon yesterday. “We are not avoiding our responsibilities. Until now, a lot of cars have already been recalled earlier, now we’re going a step further with a ‘stop drive’ until there’s no Takata airbag in a Citroën anymore.”
Citroën also notes that it had sent a letter to the latter victim on the 20th of May, but that the letter had been returned as having an incorrect address.
Worldwide scandal
The worldwide scandal of defective Takata airbags erupted in 2014 and has shaken the entire automotive industry ever since. To inflate the airbags, Takata began using an ammonium nitrate compound without a drying agent. However, this propellant can burn too fast and cause the inflator to explode, especially in hot and humid conditions.
Since then, tens of millions of vehicles with Takata airbags have been under recall. Long-term exposure to high heat and humidity can cause these airbags to explode when deployed. Such explosions have caused many injuries and quite a lot of deaths. In June 2017, Takata filed for bankruptcy. Key Safety Systems acquired the remains.
The event in Reims was the second deadly accident on the mainland of France, but 16 people died and 24 were injured because of the untimely deployment of their Takata airbag in the ‘Outre-mer’ territories.
Many manufacturers have been involved in recall actions following the scandal. Manufacturers such as Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis (of which Citroën is a part), Nissan, Tesla, Ford, BMW, Mercedes, and even Ferrari were obliged to recall millions of cars since the scandal broke out.
Earlier recalls were insufficient
In France, Citroën started a significant recall of older models at the beginning of 2025. 236,900 C3 and DS3 cars driving around in the north of France were called in for repair. The start of the exercise was somewhat chaotic because of a shortage of replacement airbags. Before this, Citrën had already executed a recall in the south of Europe (where it’s warmer) and in its ‘outer sea’ regions.
For cars produced in 2014 or later, Citroën recently launched a simple dealer recall, without implementing a ‘stop drive’ measure. “Our analyses didn’t show any degradation risks after 2013,” said a spokesman of Stellantis. In a reaction to the recent incident in Reims, the French Ministry of Transport noted that “the accident in Reims is questioning the risk analyses of the manufacturer.”
From the 690,000 C3 and DS3 cars equipped with a possibly defective Takata airbag, 481,000 (or 69.7%) have already been examined and repaired, Stellantis has communicated.
Nevertheless, consumer organizations are not happy with what has happened. The association UFC-Que choisir has filed a complaint and requests an inquiry “to identify possible dysfunctions and clarify responsibilities.”
“This new deadly accident is unacceptable and could have been avoided if Stellantis had deployed all necessary measures,” says the association.
The public prosecutor’s office in Reims opened an investigation for involuntary manslaughter but later handed it over to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is regrouping all procedures concerning the Takata scandal on a national level.
And in Belgium?
In Belgium, approximately 28,000 Citroën vehicles are affected, specifically C3 and DS3 models produced between 2009 and 2019. In France, Citroën owners can consult an online list of affected cars. In Belgium, all communication is handled through the Stellantis importer or its authorized dealers.
“It’s very difficult in Belgium to know if your car is concerned,” says Julie Frère, spokeswoman of the consumer organisation TestAankoop/TestAchats. “The consumers concerned are informed individually by their dealers or by the importer.”
Yesterday, the importer confirmed that the ‘stop drive’ also concerned Belgian Citroën clients. “All persons concerned will receive a registered letter that urges them to contact their dealer asap and make an appointment for replacing the airbag. There will also be information on the website of Citroën België/Belgique.
TestAankoop/TestAchats wondered why the Belgian importer of Stellantis cars hadn’t communicated on the matter yesterday. “Yesterday, we didn’t have the internal confirmation yet of the ‘stop drive’, so we continued the recall already initiated a while ago,” explains Anouk van Vliet, communications director at Stellantis Belux.
Normally, the replacement cost of the Takata airbag is covered by Stellantis. TestAankoop/TestAchats will verify if everything goes well here. Currently, the consumer organisation has two other cases pending with the manufacturer, concerning issues with Puretech petrol engines or the use of AdBlue in diesel engines.
“In Italy, some consumers had to wait several months before they could recover their vehicle and didn’t get any indemnification for this,” Julie Frère points out. “We will, of course, make sure that such a situation doesn’t occur in Belgium.”
