The Takata airbag recall began in late 2014, but we’re still seeing more vehicles being added to the list more than ten years later. French automaker Citroen is the latest to issue a Takata recall, urging C3 and DS3 owners to stop driving their vehicles.
The French government requested that Citroen, a Stellantis company, issue a stop-drive order after a 37-year-old woman was killed by a malfunctioning airbag. The incident marked the 13th death from airbags in the country. Citroen has been aware of the problem since early last year, but had not yet told owners to stop driving the vehicles. Instead, it had been asking drivers to make dealer appointments for a replacement.
Citroen CEO Xavier Chardon said, “Given the circumstances, we have decided to issue a ‘stop drive’ to accelerate their repair.” Citroen’s order impacts around 441,000 vehicles in Europe, adding to the automaker’s pile of airbag-recalled vehicles.
The French company’s recall is just the latest in a long line of automakers’ attempts to fully remove Takata airbags from circulation. The bags were installed in millions of vehicles around the globe, making it exceedingly difficult to include all affected models. Takata’s airbags used a propellant container that could degrade over time and in humid conditions. If the component degrades far enough, it could explode in a crash, sending shrapnel into the passenger compartment.
[Images: Citroen/Stellantis]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
