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They could not change their airbags despite the obligation. This is done in half an hour at home. They will get back behind the wheel of their DS3 or their C3 with perhaps a renewed sense of security. Finally… for drivers who need to change faulty airbags in Stellantis group vehicles.
“We are scared !” testifies Jade, 20 years old, resident of Vitrolles, “you don’t drive normally, you know that at any moment, it could explode.” The young woman owns a DS3. For six months, she has known that airbags are dangerous and that they need to be changed.
The first registered letter arrives in January, the second in June. He is prohibited from driving your vehicle in this state. The mail comes from Stellantis, an automobile group which includes 14 brands including Citroën and DS Automobiles. The vehicles concerned are the C3 and the DS3. The replacement operation is expected to cost nearly a billion euros.
Hélène Morvan and Jade, her daughter, and the Citroën with replaced airbags. • © LAURENT THE CRAB / HANS LUCAS AFP
“Every time she drove, I told her to be careful on speed bumps and to avoid hitting (another vehicle),” says Hélène Morvan, Jade’s mother. Since January, the young woman has still been driving, but only to go to work, thirty kilometers from her home.
The airbags in question were manufactured by the Japanese company Takata (which has since gone bankrupt). Since 2014, they have caused several deaths by projecting dangerous parts, due to a gas that ages poorly in hot and humid climates.
Mathéo, technician from the Stellantis dealership, goes to your home to change the airbags. He gets into Jade’s car and honks the horn to test her steering wheel, where the driver’s airbag is hidden. On the passenger side, he removes part of the dashboard to access the air cushion. “It takes about half an hour to change the two airbags,” explains Mathéo, “we can do eight to ten cars per day.”
246,000 vehicles are affected in France
67,000 vehicles were repaired
20,000 customers still need to be contacted
80,000 customers did not respond
In Vitrolles, 1,000 demonstration or used vehicles were loaned to customers
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Replacing all the defective airbags could cost Stellantis a billion. • © LAURENT THE CRAB / HANS LUCAS
On July 29, six clients filed a complaint for “endangering the lives of others, deception and deceptive business practices,” their lawyers said. They are asking in particular for financial compensation.
Maryse-Hélène Malroux, a lawyer who runs a Facebook group of unhappy customers, says he threatened his dealership with a complaint for “failure to assist a person in danger”, before obtaining a replacement electric Fiat 500 for his son.
“This is an operation of exceptional scale,” underlined Citroën boss Thierry Koskas, “I can understand the embarrassment we are causing. But the means that have been deployed are exceptional too.” At this rate, “most of the recall operation will be completed by the end of the year,” hopes the Citroën boss.
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