The UFC-Que Choisir launches a group action against Stellantis after its “chaotic and calamitous” management of the crisis

This is the first group action brought in France about these defective airbags, responsible for at least 60 dead in 11 countries in the past 15 years, including 18 in France.

“Stellantis was particularly chaotic, it was for this manufacturer that we have received the most reports”On Tuesday, July 22, on Franceinfo Magali Buttard, head of the UFC-Que Legal Service Choose, to justify the launch of a group action targeting the automaker Stellantis to claim the payment of compensation from the owners of vehicles equipped with Takata airbags being the subject of forced immobilization.

The consumer association has decided to seize the court “So that the damages caused to motorists victims of reminders under stop drive, operated since 2023 in a completely anarchic and unreasonable way, are repaired”, she said. This immediate immobilization measure, which concerns 1.7 million vehicles, is “The consequence of the carelessness, inertia and perfectly chaotic and calamitous management of the various reminders organized by Stellantis”assured Magali Buttard. “This fault has led to a certain number of damages for motorists and it results in various costs that they had to bear because of this immobilization of their vehicle and they must be compensated”she continued.

For the UFC-Que Choisir, Stellantis and Citroën “had the possibility of organizing simple reminders before being forced to have to carry out measures under ‘stop drive’, which would have allowed to ventilate the airbag replacements in a more progressive way”. “If the manufacturer had agreed to take the full measure of the dangerousness of these airbags, if he had perhaps not only made a financial calculation, he would have made much earlier reminders and these stop drive measures would not have been necessary”added the legal manager of the consumer association.

The association requests a series of compensation for various damages. In addition to daily compensation for the duration of the vehicle’s immobilization, the UFC wishes to obtain compensation for all the linked damages “At the insurance costs that consumers have continued to pay”, “possible parking costs”, “substitution transport costs”, “towing costs”, “the costs of restarting the vehicle” or even “The costs of canceling all tourism and cultural activities” linked to the immobilization of the car.

This is the first group action brought in France about these defective airbags, responsible for at least 60 dead in 11 countries in the past 15 years, including 18 in France. But the UFC-Que Choisir does not forbid “To continue its initiatives also by means of group action against other manufacturers”said Magali Buttard.