Stellantis recall: Peugeot, Citroën and Opel owners risk being trapped inside by a VSM software bug

Stellantis is dealing with an awkward recall covering three of its brands at once: Peugeot, Citroën and Opel. The fault has nothing to do with the hardware — it sits in the software of the Vehicle Supervision Module (VSM), which can leave the interior door handles unresponsive.

According to data obtained by 32CARS, the recall affects the Peugeot 5008, 308, 3008 and 408, the Citroën C5 X, plus the Opel Astra and Grandland. In total, 142,708 cars worldwide are involved: 110,065 Peugeot, 6,633 Citroën and 26,010 Opel. In Germany the scope is smaller — 13,285 vehicles, with the bulk landing on Peugeot at 12,864 cars. Citroën accounts for 404 there, Opel for just 17.

The German regulator Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) is blunt about it: a fault in the Vehicle Supervision Module can deactivate the interior door handles “randomly and unexpectedly”. On a normal drive that looks like an annoying electronic glitch, but in a crash, a fire or a stop in a dangerous spot it is no longer a comfort issue: passengers need to be able to get out of the car quickly, without looking for a backup plan.

The build windows differ: Peugeot — from 9 October 2023 to 12 February 2026; Citroën — from 14 December 2022 to 9 February 2026; Opel — from 11 July 2023 to 4 July 2024. Campaign codes: Peugeot M4B, Citroën GX2, Opel KWB. The KBA is tracking the action under reference numbers 16644R, 16645R and 16647R, with the status listed as under investigation and supervision.

The fix should be simple: a software update to the VSM, in some cases via OTA. Even so, owners are advised to contact a dealer or service centre. For Stellantis, it is a hit to confidence in its new electronic architecture: when a single bug touches different brands and models, buyers stop looking only at the styling of the 3008 or the practicality of the Astra, and start asking how safely all that digital plumbing actually works in real life.