Following the most recent death linked to an airbag, Citroen has implored European owners of C3 and DS3 vehicles to cease operating them. The French automotive giant instructed owners of C3 and DS3 models on the continent with potentially defective Takata airbags on Tuesday to stop driving the cars right away. The action follows the death of a woman in France earlier this month. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Citroen C3 and DS3 cars that the OEM has recalled since early last year, the immobilisation order has impacted about 441,000 vehicles in Europe.

According to AFP, the carmaker will recall any potentially affected cars due to the defective Takata airbags. This is the most recent action in a recall controversy that dates back to 2014, when investigators discovered that the airbags had caused numerous fatalities by exploding when they were deployed during an accident.

Following the death of a 37-year-old woman whose airbag malfunctioned during an accident and projected pieces into her, the French government this month urged Citroen, which is now owned by the Stellantis group, to immediately immobilise the owners of the affected vehicles. According to the news agency, this was the 13th death connected to the faulty Takata airbags in numerous incidents in France.

Until now, Citroen had just requested that customers schedule an appointment for the airbag replacement procedure, which began in early 2024 and was carried out in several phases. However, the decision to instruct C3 owners to cease driving their cars is unsettling because it represents a new action from the manufacturer. Regarding this, Citroen's CEO, Xavier Chardon, is reported to have stated, "Given the circumstances, we have decided to issue a 'stop drive' to accelerate their repair."

The Takata airbag scandal has impacted other automobile manufacturers besides Citroen worldwide. The problem has also affected several other big worldwide automobile producers, such as Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, and Toyota. Millions of cars equipped with Takata airbags have been recalled by these automakers.

In addition to other vehicles like the Basalt, Aircross, eC3, and C5 Aircross, Citroen also offers the C3 model in India. Citroen India has not yet revealed such a step for the C3 customers in India.

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