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Citroen owners left stranded over airbag safety risk

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Theo Leggett and James Kelly

BBC News

BBC Lisa Shackleton sits in the driving seat of her purple Citroen DS3 car with the door open, looking back at the camera, the car is parked on a driveway with bushes in the background, and the words 'your voice, your BBC News' overlaid as a black and white graphic on the image.BBC

Lisa Shackleton says her DS3 will not be fixed until the end of July

An estimated 120,000 motorists in the UK have been left unable to drive their cars after a safety alert over a potentially lethal fault with airbags.

Lisa Shackleton is one of them. The 69-year-old owns a 2014 Citroen DS3 and she needs it to take her elderly husband to specialist medical appointments.

She’s also worried about how she can get to a cottage she booked for a summer holiday, which is a three-hour drive away, to be close to her daughter, who is undergoing chemotherapy.

Car giant Stellantis, which owns Citreon, has said people should stop using versions of the popular Citroen C3 and the related DS3 altogether until they are fixed.

But Lisa is one of a number of owners who have told the BBC they face long waits to get the fix done. Stellantis said it was “inevitable” that customers would be inconvenienced.

The “stop-drive” instruction issued by Stellantis followed growing concerns about the safety of airbags fitted to these models, following a fatal accident in France last month.

Lisa contacted the BBC via Your Voice, Your BBC News.

“I’ve tried to get the car fixed, but as I didn’t get to know about the recall soon enough, the earliest it can be done is the end of July,” she says.

“It’s booked in at a dealership in York, and that’s an hour’s drive away.”

Another motorist told the BBC she had not been able to book her car in for the repair until January next year.

Stellantis said it was “working to maximise” the number of vehicles it could repair each day, and that priority needed to be given to those with the most urgent needs.

Airbag scandal

Stop-drive recalls, where owners are told not to use their cars at all due to safety risks, are rare. This one affects all C3 and DS3 models built from 2009-2016, as well as a handful of DS3s produced from 2016-2019. Stellantis said they should not be driven until airbags produced by the now defunct Japanese supplier Takata have been replaced.

It is the latest development in a long-running saga which has led to the recall of an estimated 100 million cars worldwide over the past decade.

The issue was brought back into focus last month by the death of a motorist in northern France. A 37-year-old woman driving a Citroen C3 was killed after a minor collision in Reims when she was struck by flying metal from a faulty airbag.

Takata was once one of the world’s biggest suppliers of airbags, safety devices which are meant to protect people from impacts when accidents occur. But in 2013 reports began to emerge of people being killed or injured by their products.

Explosive chemicals, used to inflate the bags quickly in the event of an accident, were becoming more volatile over time, especially in warm and humid conditions.

This could cause them to explode with too much force, fracturing their metal container, and sending shrapnel into the cabin of the vehicle.

A large number of car makers were affected and rapidly responded with a swathe of recalls. However Stellantis, then known as PSA Group prior to a merger with FiatChrysler, said it had been told by Takata that airbags made in its European factories were not affected, and they continued to be fitted in new vehicles as a result.

Takata filed for bankruptcy in 2017, its reputation destroyed by the affair.

The boot and rear of a black Citroen C3. It has red and white lights on both side of the boot, and the sky is reflecting in the glass window. To the right hand side a woman is walking her granddaughter towards the car from school. Both are blurred out.

‘Poor communication’

Stellantis said it had only become aware of incidents involving European-made airbags in 2019, and initially believed only cars in hot and humid regions were affected. It began a recall campaign in those areas.

In April last year the recall was extended across the whole of Europe, but people were still allowed to drive their vehicles while they awaited a repair.

The C3 and DS3 were already covered by this recall, but following the incident in northern France, Stellantis went further, announcing a stop-drive action across the continent, including in the UK. This took effect on 20 June.

Since then, however, dozens of car owners have complained to the BBC of poor communication from Stellantis and mixed, sometimes contradictory, messages from Citroen and DS dealerships.

Despite the sometimes serious disruption caused to car owners’ daily lives, Stellantis said it had no plans to provide compensation while adding that it had “mobilised the whole company” to source the number of replacement airbags required.

A spokesperson said: “It is inevitable, with such a large number of vehicles affected, that customers will be inconvenienced in the short term.”

What is not clear is how customers should get their cars to dealerships for the repair work, as they cannot be driven. Industry experts say drivers should check with their insurers before getting behind the wheel.

The company said it was “investigating options of airbag replacement at other sites, in addition to our Citroen network, including at [the owner’s] home”.

Meanwhile in France, the government has told drivers in Corsica and in the country’s overseas territories, where the climate is hotter, to stop using any cars of any brand fitted with Takata airbags.

The same instruction applies to vehicles on the French mainland built before 2011. In total, around 2.5 million cars are affected.

In the UK, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said it supported Stellantis’ decision to issue a stop-drive recall and was working with the company to raise awareness of the issue, but did not currently have any plans to order a wider recall.

Owners can find out whether their car is included in the recall here.

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Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education launches the AI Leadership Programme in collaboration with Emeritus

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The programme explores future-focused AI strategies and frameworks to foster innovation, accelerate organisational growth and build resilience.

CAMBRIDGE, England, July 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education announces the launch of its four-month Cambridge AI Leadership Programme. This programme equips leaders with both strategic insights and practical knowledge to harness AI for business transformation. Launched in collaboration with Emeritus, a global leader in making high-quality education accessible and affordable, enrolment is now open for a September 2025 start.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, and organisations are eager to understand and leverage its full potential to enhance efficiency, drive innovation and stay competitive. According to Forbes, 68% of employers consider AI to be crucial for future success. However, many AI projects fail due to a lack of strategic leadership and integration. The Cambridge AI Leadership Programme helps participants navigate the complexities of AI adoption, identify scalable opportunities and build a strategic roadmap for successful implementation.

Through a blend of in-person and online learning modules, participants will develop an understanding of AI concepts, applications and best practices to enhance decision-making skills as well as examine digital transformation and ethical AI governance. They will engage directly with world-renowned Cambridge faculty, industry experts and global peers while immersing themselves in the rich Cambridge ecosystem. By the end of the programme, participants will be prepared to implement AI strategies that deliver operational excellence and long-term organisational success.

“AI is a transformative force reshaping business strategy, decision-making and leadership. Senior executives must not only understand AI but also use it to drive business goals, efficiency and new revenue opportunities,” says Professor David Stillwell, Co-Academic Programme Director. “The Cambridge AI Leadership Programme offers a strategic road map, equipping leaders with the skills and mindset to integrate AI into their organisations and lead in an AI-driven world.”

“The Cambridge AI Leadership Programme empowers decision-makers to harness AI in ways that align with their organisation’s goals and prepare for the future,” says Vesselin Popov, Co-Academic Programme Director. “Through a comprehensive learning experience, participants gain strategic insights and practical knowledge to drive transformation, strengthen decision-making and navigate technological shifts with confidence.”

The programme is designed for senior leaders looking to lead transformation, unlock new revenue opportunities and integrate AI technologies into business operations effectively. It bridges the critical gap between technology and business strategy, preparing leaders to achieve AI-driven business goals.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education to help senior leaders deepen their understanding of AI’s strategic applications and build foresight to balance innovation while managing risk,” says Mike Malefakis, President of University Partnerships at Emeritus. “Through blended learning, the Cambridge AI Leadership Programme enables participants to leverage AI tools and strategies for business optimisation and growth.”

The Cambridge AI Leadership Programme starts on 22 September 2025. For more information and to apply, please visit the programme website.

About Cambridge Judge Business School

Cambridge Judge Business School leverages the power of academia for real-world impact to transform individuals, organisations and society. Since 1990, Cambridge Judge has forged a reputation as a centre of rigorous thinking and high-impact transformative education, situated within one of the world’s most prestigious research universities and in the heart of the Cambridge Cluster, the most successful technology entrepreneurship cluster in Europe. In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, Cambridge Judge placed first in the Times Higher Education rankings for Business and Management Studies in the United Kingdom. Ninety-four per cent of Cambridge’s overall REF submissions were rated as “world leading” or “internationally excellent”, demonstrating the major global impact that Cambridge Judge researchers are making on society. Cambridge Judge pursues innovation through interdisciplinary insight, entrepreneurial spirit and collaboration. Cutting-edge research is rooted in real-world challenges, and students and clients are encouraged to ask excellent questions to create real-world change. Undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes attract innovators, creative thinkers, thoughtful and collaborative problem-solvers as well as current and future leaders, drawn from a huge diversity of backgrounds and countries.

About Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education

Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education offers a wide range of open-enrolment and customised programmes that will test, challenge, encourage and inspire you. We will help you embrace the knowledge and skills you need – to grow in confidence and to evolve and adapt. Get ready to lead purposefully, manage effectively and innovate in an increasingly complex future.

About Emeritus

Emeritus is committed to teaching the skills of the future by making high-quality education accessible and affordable to individuals, organisations and governments worldwide. It does so by collaborating with more than 80 top-tier universities across the United States, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, India and China. Emeritus’s short courses, degree programmes, professional certificates and senior executive programmes help individuals learn new skills and transform their lives, companies and organisations. Its unique model of state-of-the-art technology, curriculum innovation and hands-on instruction from senior faculty, mentors and coaches has educated more than 350,000 individuals across more than 80 countries. For more information, please visit https://emeritus.org.

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Capgemini falls as WNS deal raises questions over AI’s business impact — TradingView News

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** Shares in French IT services firm Capgemini CAP fall more than 5% to their lowest price since late April, after it agreed to buy WNS WNS for $3.3 billion of cash

** Analysts from Morgan Stanley say investors are concerned over the impact of Gen AI on the business process outsourcing (BPO) market that Capgemini wants to develop into

** “The bear case is that new technology would shift BPO from a people intensive business to one which is much more highly automated and managed by software and not people” – MS

** This could mean reduction of BPO revenues and exposure of incumbent vendors to competition from new entrants, MS adds

** “We expect investors to be able to see the opportunity that could come from disrupting BPO with Gen AI but think some evidence will be needed to convince the market WNS is the right vehicle,” MS says

** The analysts add WNS is not large enough to be transformational to Capgemini’s financials, while the deal is using up its balance sheet firepower for a couple of years

** Capgemini’s shares are at the bottom of Europe’s benchmark STOXX 600 index SXXP



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Capgemini-WNS Deal: French firm to acquire BPS provider for $3.3 billion; eyes edge in agentic AI operations

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French tech giant Capgemini on Monday announced its acquisition of business process services (BPS) provider WNS for $3.3 billion in cash, a strategic move aimed at creating a global leader in AI-powered business operations. As per the news agency AFP, the deal, unanimously approved by both companies’ boards, values WNS at $76.50 per share, a 28 per cent premium over its 90-day average trading price.With this acquisition, Capgemini aims to tap into the fast-evolving demand for agentic AI, or autonomous AI agents, which can independently perform tasks and make decisions in business environments. “Capgemini’s acquisition of WNS will provide the group with the scale and vertical sector expertise to capture that rapidly emerging strategic opportunity created by the paradigm shift from traditional BPS to agentic AI-powered intelligent operations,” said Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat, as cited by AFP.WNS, headquartered in London with a second base in India and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, began in the late 1990s by offering services to British Airways. Today, it caters to clients across various sectors, helping them transition from conventional outsourcing to tech-driven operational models. The company is widely recognised as a key player in the BPS sector, which has evolved from simple back-office outsourcing to complex AI-integrated process management.“Organisations that have already digitised are now seeking to reimagine their operating models by embedding AI at the core, shifting from automation to autonomy,” WNS CEO Keshav Murugesh said, as per AFP.Capgemini, which provides IT consulting and digital transformation services, said the acquisition would open up strong cross-selling opportunities and is expected to immediately enhance its financial performance. The deal is projected to boost earnings per share by 4 per cent in 2026 and by 7 per cent in 2027 once synergies are realised.To fund the acquisition and assume WNS’s existing debt, Capgemini has secured €4 billion ($4.7 billion) in bridge financing, it said in a joint statement with WNS. The transaction reflects a broader industry shift as companies move from AI-assisted automation to building AI-led autonomous operations.





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