Latest news with #Reims
The Sun
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Major car brand issues ‘stop driving immediately' recall after 700,000 motors in France – check if you're affected
A MAJOR carmaker has recalled thousands of motors due to a defect that could prove deadly. Owners of popular Citroën models - built between 2009 and 2019 - have been warned to stop driving their cars immediately. 4 4 4 Stellantis has told all owners of 2009-2019 Citroën Mk1 DS 3s and Mk2 Citroën C3s in the UK to stop driving their cars immediately. This includes both the Citroën DS 3 and later examples of the supermini - sold solely under the DS brand. It comes a week after a driver died after the Takata airbag in her 2014 Citroën C3 exploded. The 37-year-old woman in Reims, France, suffered fatal injuries - prompting the recall of the popular car model. France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called for all C3 and DS3 vehicles with Takata airbags to be taken off the road on Tuesday. French carmaker Citroën had already recalled the affected cars - replacing airbags in just under 70 percent of the 690,000 vehicles. But Tabarot said the company's response had been 'unacceptable and scandalous' and had 'not matched the scale of the risk'. Citroën's new director Xavier Chardon later told AFP the brand would be placing all affected cars across Europe under a "stop-drive" order "to speed up repairs". Affected C3 and DS 3 owners will be informed by letter, said Stellantis. The company is urging owners to check their address and contact details with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are up to date - so they can be reached without delay. Ford Recalls 148,000 Vehicles: Fire & Crash Risks Explained Motorists can also use the Citroën UK website to check if their car is affected - using a vehicle identification number (VIN) search. Stellantis UK has urged owners of affected vehicles to register for an airbag repair immediately. This can be done online or by calling either the company's recall helpline or Citroën customer care. Stellantis said it is 'mobilising its full network of suppliers, retailers and manufacturing plants' to ensure the repairs take place as quickly as possible. It added: 'Stellantis remains fully committed to acting swiftly, transparently, and responsibly in addressing this issue.' Faulty Takata airbags were responsible for the largest vehicle recall in history. Taking place in 2017, the recall affected over 100 million vehicles worldwide across multiple car brands - including Honda, Toyota, BMW, Ford, Nissan and Stellantis. The airbags, manufactured by Japanese company Takata Corporation, were found to have defective inflators that could explode with excessive force during deployment. It comes as numerous other car models with Takata airbags - sold between 2001 and 2018 - have been urged not to use their vehicles. These include models such as the Toyota Yaris, Toyota Corolla, Mercedes A-Class II, and the Mercedes C-Class II and III. The new announcement came in April as at least 29 airbag-related incident have been recorded in France - including 17 deaths - since 2016. Meanwhile, Ford is recalling over a million cars after discovering a software glitch that could increase the risk of a crash. The recall affects 1,075,299 vehicles across the UK and worldwide. The problem involves rear view cameras freezing or failing to display properly when the vehicle is put into reverse. The American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed the fault, warning: 'A frozen or missing rearview camera image can reduce the driver's view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.' Ford has acknowledged the issue, confirming that there have been no reported injuries linked to the fault so far. 4
Auto Express
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Citroen recall sees owners told to stop driving 'immediately'
Owners of several Citroen models have been asked to stop driving their cars immediately, following the issue of a recall notice regarding faulty airbags which could be dangerous to occupants. The models affected are the second-generation Citroen C3 supermini and more stylish Citroen DS3, which were both on sale between 2009 and 2016, as well as the DS 3 (2016-2019). All are suspected to contain faulty Takata airbags. Advertisement - Article continues below A defective airbag is recently believed to have led to the death of a woman in Reims, France, after she swerved in her 2014 C3 to avoid hitting an HGV. Issues surrounding the airbag's ammonium nitrate gas generator resulted in shards of metal splintering through the car. The French Transport Ministry has since ordered Citroen to conduct a recall and while no similar incidents have been reported in the UK, Stellantis is taking the opportunity to issue a stop-drive order here as well to avoid any safety concerns. A statement by the French Transport Ministry said that the situation 'raises questions about the risk analyses carried out by the manufacturer'. However, Stellantis says the move to initiate a recall in the UK 'underscores the company's unwavering commitment to customer safety'. Of course, it's worth pointing out that Citroen is not the only firm to have fitted its cars with potentially problematic Takata airbags; the French Transport Ministry has also issued warnings for owners of Audis, BMWs, Fords, Nissans, Peugeots and even Ferraris. Regarding the Citroen recall, customers will receive a letter in the post outlining the next steps; Stellantis also has an 'Is my car affected?' web page online, as well as a recall helpline (0800 917 9285) if you need to speak with someone directly. Any recall-related work performed will be covered by Stellantis and should only take around half a day to complete at one of dozens of authorised Citroen garages across the country. Come and join our WhatsApp channel for the latest car news and reviews...
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
French champagne makers face human trafficking trial
Conditions for grape-pickers in France's champagne business lie at the heart of a human trafficking trial that has opened in the eastern city of people – a woman from Kyrgyzstan, a man from Georgia and a Frenchman – are accused of exploiting more than 50 seasonal workers, mainly from west workers – all undocumented migrants – were found during the 2023 September harvest living in cramped and unhygienic conditions in a building at Nesle-le-Repons, southwest of Reims in the heart of champagne had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised "well-paid work" in the Champagne region. They had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised "well-paid work" in the Champagne between 16 and 65 at the time, the 48 men and nine women came from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Many are attending Thursday's trial."They shouted at us in Russian and crammed us into this broken-down house, with mattresses on the floor," Kanouitié Djakariayou, 44, told La Croix newspaper."There was no clean water, and the only food was a bowl of rice and rotten sandwiches."I never thought the people who made champagne would put us up in a place which even animals would not accept.""What we lived through there was truly terrible. We were traumatised by the experience. And we have had no psychological support, because when you have no papers, you have no rights either," Doumbia Mamadou, 45, told the local newspaper L' off a week later by a local resident, labour inspectors visited the scene and documented conditions which "were a serious breach of the occupants' safety, health and dignity," in the words of state prosecutor Annick prosecution says living and eating areas were outside, unprotected from the elements; toilets were filthy; showers were inadequate with only intermittent hot water; and the electrics were a safety addition the migrants were working ten hours a day with only 30 minutes for lunch, having been transported to the vineyards squatting in the back of trucks. They had no written contract, and the pay they received bore "no relation to the work performed," according to the prosecution."The accused had a total disregard for human dignity," said Maxime Cessieux, who represents some of the 44 year-old female suspect, named Svetlana G., ran a recruitment agency called Anavim, which specialised in finding labour for the wine industry. The two others were her addition to the charge of human trafficking, the woman is also accused of undeclared labour, employing foreigners without permits, inadequate pay, and lodging vulnerable people in unfit conditions. All three face jail terms of up to seven years and large fines fines if they are case has raised questions about the extent of worker exploitation in the €6bn (£5.1bn) champagne industry. With every grape having to be picked by hand, producers rely on some 120,000 seasonal labourers every autumn, many of whom are recruited via 2023 six grape pickers died from suspected heatstroke during the harvest in the Champagne and Beaujolais regions - and in recent years there have been two other criminal cases in which agents have been found guilty of maltreatment of migrant unions have said some champagne houses hide behind middlemen, and they want the law changed so that producers can lose the "champagne" label if they are found to have used illegal labour – even indirectly."It should not be possible to harvest the grapes of champagne using human misery," said Jose Blanco of the CGT the main body representing champagne producers – the Comité Champagne -- said mistreatment of workers happened very rarely and when discovered was immediately Comité is represented at the trial as a civil plaintiff, in recognition of the "damage done to the brand" by these "unacceptable practices."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Stellantis asks for thousands of Citroen cars with faulty airbags to be removed from roads
PARIS (Reuters) -Stellantis has asked for 82,000 Citroen C3 and DS3 vehicles in France with faulty Takata airbags to be removed from roads, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, one week after a woman in Reims died from injuries sustained by one of the airbags in a 2014 Citroen C3. All C3 and DS3 vehicles produced between 2014 and 2019 are now subject to the "stop drive" recall, the spokesperson said. To date, the company has repaired 481,000 cars in France with the airbags out of 690,000. The French transport ministry had requested for all Citroen C3 and DS3 vehicles subject to a Takata airbag recall to be removed from the roads after the June 11 accident. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
a day ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Stellantis asks for thousands of Citroen cars with faulty airbags to be removed from roads
PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - Stellantis has asked for 82,000 Citroen C3 and DS3 vehicles in France with faulty Takata airbags to be removed from roads, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, one week after a woman in Reims died from injuries sustained by one of the airbags in a 2014 Citroen C3. All C3 and DS3 vehicles produced between 2014 and 2019 are now subject to the "stop drive" recall, the spokesperson said. To date, the company has repaired 481,000 cars in France with the airbags out of 690,000. The French transport ministry had requested for all Citroen C3 and DS3 vehicles subject to a Takata airbag recall to be removed from the roads after the June 11 accident.
