Takata Airbag Scandals: UFC-Que Choisir Launches Class Action Against Stellantis

UFC-Que Choisir has decided to take the matter to court and launch a class action against the car manufacturer Stellantis to demand compensation for owners of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags that have been subject to forced immobilization. The consumer association wants "the damage caused to motorists who have been victims of the "stop drive" recalls, which have been carried out in a completely anarchic and unreasonable manner since 2023, to be repaired," it said.

As a reminder, a driver died in Reims on June 17th when his airbag exploded during a collision with another vehicle. In response, the French government ordered car manufacturers of all makes to ground an additional 800,000 vehicles equipped with potentially defective Takata airbags, bringing to 1.7 million the number of vehicles subject to a driving ban for this reason, until the device is replaced.

"These "stop drive" measures are the direct and certain consequences of the failure, due to the negligence and chaotic management of Stellantis (the parent company of Citroën ), in the execution of their general safety obligation, constituting a fault of the manufacturer, and thus opening the right to compensation" , explains UFC-Que Choisir.

This is the first class action lawsuit filed in France over these defective airbags, which have been responsible for at least 60 deaths in 11 countries over the past 15 years, including 18 in France. In the United States, the hardest-hit country with 28 deaths, Ford, Toyota, Honda, BMW, Nissan, and Mazda have paid a total of $1.5 billion in compensation to victims.

Takata airbags are responsible for fatal or serious injury explosions due to a gas called ammonium nitrate, which degrades over time, particularly in hot and humid climates, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. The airbags then deploy even in the event of a minor collision, causing an explosion similar to that of a grenade and projecting pieces of metal and plastic into the passenger compartment, often fatal to the driver.