Its appearance at the auto show did not go unnoticed. On October 19, Franck Leblanc showed up at the Stellantis stand, disguised as a cow, determined to give bad publicity to Carlos Tavares’ group. This garage owner in Aubervilliers (93), who rents cars to driving schools, says he owns 450 vehicles, the vast majority of which are C3s. However, for a year, this executive has been insisting on social networks that his vehicles have suffered repeated failures, linked to the 1.2 PureTech and 1.5 BlueHDi engines.
We were able to see emails sent from a driving school to which Franck delivered one of his vehicles, reporting a fault on a Citroën C3 24 hours after receiving it. “Now we’ll have to give him a new one, but luckily the driving school is in Trappes,” whispers the mechanic. Sometimes it can be in Lyon or Marseille. In this case I have to pay the transporter, the petrol, the toll and possibly a tow truck to bring the broken down car back”. For more than a year, Franck Leblanc has also been publishing his tirades against Stellantis, in the hope that his vehicles will be taken over by the manufacturer. Last March he spoke to the automotive giant’s customer service, before being contacted again after his presence at the show, in view of a meeting.
For its part, Stellantis tells us that its case should be studied. The company says it is waiting for documents proving the vehicle’s faults. For his part, Franck Leblanc does not intend to ease the pressure before reaching an agreement. “Of course, I’m thinking of changing brands,” he confides. But the C3s, today, no longer cost anything. If I can’t sell my cars, I have no liquidity and therefore I can’t change brands. It is the serpent that bites its own tail.” Several months ago, the mechanic also issued a warning to Stellantis, believing that these failures pose a danger to his customers. “If you have a student driving and you don’t have a steering wheel and the timing belt blows on the highway, and you’re followed by a truck, there’s a risk of death.”
Franck Leblanc is not the first to oppose Stellantis. A class action procedure was initiated a year ago by 4,700 owners of vehicles equipped with 1.2 Pure Tech engine. The manufacturer has proposed various solutions such as covering the replacement of engines, but currently refuses to compensate victims. The latter have been waiting for concrete proposals until the end of October 2024. Most of the victims still intend to take Stellantis to court.
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