“Stop driving your vehicle immediately”: Citroën recalls more than 600,000 C3 and DS3 cars for an airbag problem

Près de 250 000 véhicules vendus en France sont concernés par ce rappel. ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH – Arno Senoner

Le constructeur automobile français alerte ses usagers. 600 000 véhicules viennent d’être rappelés en urgence. En cause : un problème d’airbags défectueux.

In a letter addressed to its customers, the automobile giant Citroën alerts owners of C3 and DS3 models and invites them to " immediately stop driving [their] vehicle". The reason for this recall: an airbag problem which could – in the event of an accident – injured the occupants of the vehicle.

The south of France particularly concerned

This massive recall concerns only the C3 and DS3 sold between 2009 and 2019, according to our colleagues from France Blue. In total, 605,777 vehicles sold in Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa are affected.

In France, 181 734 C3 cars as well as 65 149 DS3s are affected by this problem. The south of the country would be mainly impacted due to the heat which degrades a gas "aging over the years" .

Airbags can cause injury

Coming from the Japanese equipment manufacturer Takata, already considered defective since they filed for bankruptcy, these Citroën airbags were also deemed dangerous.

Protective airbags contain "propellant ", a propulsion product which degrades over time. "In the event of an accident in which the airbags deploy, they could rupture with too much force, injuring the vehicle occupants&amp ;quot;, reports La Voix du Nord. All of the vehicles concerned are identified on the government website Consumption reminder.

A deal that could chill the usual customers of the subsidiary belonging to Stellantis.

If your vehicle is affected by a recall campaign, "you must contact your authorized repairer as quickly as possible. These interventions are carried out free of charge", indicates Citroën on its site, specifying the procedure to follow.