BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Automaker Stellantis (NYSE:) has proactively extended a recall of vehicles with potentially faulty airbags to more Citroen and DS models, as well as the Opel brand, automaker officials told Reuters on Friday. Citroen C4, DS4 and DS5 models, as well as Opel models, are now also subject to a “preventive recall measure”, which is less stringent than the original recall of Citroen C3 and DS3 models, which required immobilization of the vehicles involved, they said. . According to an Opel spokesperson, 29,000 Opel vehicles equipped with Takata airbags are affected. At the beginning of May, the group created by the merger of PSA and FCA launched a large-scale recall campaign for Takata airbags with engine stop function, affecting 500,000 Citroën C3 and DS3 vehicles produced between 2009 and 2019 and located in 24 different countries in the South Europe. Africa and the Middle East. These airbags pose a safety risk when deployed because the chemicals they contain can deteriorate when exposed to hot and humid weather conditions. “The C4, DS4 and DS5 vehicles are based on different platforms and use different airbag models, for which no failures have been identified,” a Stellantis spokesman said. “Opel cars are equipped with various airbags, the operation of which has not been identified,” he added.
According to the government website Rappel Conso, deterioration in the quality of the fuel used to instantly deploy the airbag in the event of a crash means the airbag could “rupture under too much force, injuring the vehicle’s occupants.”
Japanese company Takata, once one of the world’s leading airbag suppliers, filed for bankruptcy in 2017 following a scandal that followed massive recalls of its products. Over the past decade, more than 100 million of the company’s products have been recalled worldwide, including seven million in the United States.
More than 30 deaths, including 27 in the United States, and more than 400 injuries have been linked to airbags installed in vehicles from various manufacturers. Inflating faulty equipment can also release metal debris, causing serious injury.
Asked about crashes that may have been linked to airbags at Stellantis, a spokesman for the group said it could not comment on pending lawsuits.
“Stellantis is working closely with (the authorities investigating the accidents) to provide all necessary information,” but is “not in a position to comment on cases.”
According to its 2023 annual report, the French-Italian-American automaker has committed €951 million to finance the expansion of Takata’s airbag recall campaign in expanded Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.