Older Citroën C3 and DS3 recalled over exploding Takata airbags

Stellantis South Africa has become the latest marque to issue a recall over products fitted with defective airbags from now bankrupt components manufacturer, Takata.

Notice of repair

In a statement on Tuesday, the conglomerate said owners of Citroën C3 and DS3 models, made between 2009 and 2019, are advised to immediately visit their nearest dealership to schedule a replacement for the faulty airbags.

“Chemical components of Takata airbags can deteriorate over time, especially when exposed to hot and humid climatic conditions,” the statement said.

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“In the event of a collision requiring the airbag to deploy, the airbag inflator may rupture with excessive force, potentially causing serious injury or even death. The replacement will return these Citroën C3 and DS3 models to original safety design specification.”

It stated that owners, suspecting their vehicles to be implicated, should log a call on 0860 738 472, or enter the VIN number at www.citroen.co.za/maintain/recall-campaigns.html.

The no-cost-to-owner repairs will take “less than two hours” and are not applicable to the unrelated CC21 C3 or C3 Aircross that originate from India as opposed to the Poissy Plant in France that produced the two generations ago C3 and DS3.

Casualties climb

One of the marques hardest hit by the recall, an estimated 67-million vehicles worldwide have been implicated, the most severe being the United States where manufacturers continue to issue callbacks more than a decade after the scandal broke.

According to Forbes, an Alabama driver became the 28th Takata-linked fatality in September after the airbag inflator of the driver’s 2004 Honda Civic exploded after a reported “high speed crash”.

At the same time, the publication reports that 36 deaths worldwide have so far been blamed on faulty airbags, which can rupture without warning as a result of a defective inflator.

This would result in the canister, filled with ammonium nitrate, exploding due to the chemical deteriorating over time due to prolonged exposure to sunlight and fluctuating temperatures.

The eventuality is a detonating airbag sending metal shrapnel throughout the vehicle’s cabin regardless of whether it has been in an accident or not.

Besides Stellantis, other brands hit hard are Honda and its upscale Acura division, Nissan and its premium division Infiniti, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota as well as its Lexus marque.

No deaths yet locally

For the time being, no fatalities have been registered in South Africa despite recalls by Subaru, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Volvo, Mazda and most recently, Nissan.

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