France is tightening oversight of vehicles fitted with defective Takata airbags. According to L’Argus, from January 1, 2026, cars will fail the mandatory inspection if the manufacturer has assigned them stop-drive status, which requires a complete ban on use until they are repaired. The message is clear: no repair, no road.

From February 15, 2025, inspection centers must record whether a vehicle is equipped with Takata airbags. Starting in 2026, they will direct owners to a follow-up inspection if the unit has not been replaced. The defect is classified as critical because it endangers the driver, passengers, and other road users.

The Transport Ministry specifies that an inspection will be validated only after an official airbag replacement at a dealership. Until the repair is done, the vehicle is not allowed to operate. To verify cases, inspection centers will rely on the OTC database, which manufacturers are required to supply with information on serious recall campaigns. Linking inspections to recall data brings the system into one line and makes compliance hard to ignore.

France currently has 2.8 million vehicles on the road with Takata airbags, 1.3 million of which fall under stop-drive; around 1.2 million units have already been replaced. Authorities aim over the next two years to check the entire fleet and make the dangerous systems unavailable, so that every car is effectively accounted for. The scale explains the firm stance, and the timetable leaves little room for delay.