In a setback to Nissan Motors, consumer safety testing body Global NCAP has asked the Japanese car maker to withdraw its compact car Datsun GO from the Indian market, saying it was “substandard“.
Datsun GO, which was launched in the country last year, had failed crash test results recently conducted by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP). It had failed on critical safety count.
In a letter to Nissan Chairman and CEO, Global NCAP Chairman Max Mosley urged for an “urgent withdrawal of the Datsun GO from the Indian and related markets.”
“It is extremely disappointing that Nissan has authorised the launch of a brand new model that is so clearly substandard. As presently engineered, the Datsun GO will certainly fail to pass the United Nation’s frontal impact regulation.
“In these circumstances I would urge Nissan to withdraw the Datsun GO from sale in India pending an urgent redesign of the car’s body-shell,” Mosley said.
Applying the UN’s minimum crash test standards to all passenger car production worldwide is a key recommendation of the Global Plan for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, he added. As per the crash results, the Datsun GO scored zero stars for adult occupant protection and just two stars for child occupant protection. Its vehicle structure collapsed in the crash and was rated as unstable.
“The car’s lack of airbags meant that the driver’s head makes direct contact with the steering wheel and dashboard — the dummy readings indicate a high probability of life-threatening injuries. However the failure of the body shell makes it redundant to fit an airbag,” Global NCAP said.
GO meets India norms: Nissan Our Mumbai Bureau adds: A spokesperson for Nissan said, “We believe that road safety is a key concern globally and in India, but is not a fixed or ‘one-for-all’ issue. It differs by countries and evolves through time, as the traffic and society conditions change.
“Datsun GO meets required local vehicle regulations in India and was developed to deliver the best adapted solutions to the local conditions, from best in class braking and good visibility to durability, seat comfort and reduced motion sickness.”
According to an industry source, NCAP, being an NGO, cannot decide on any country’s regulation requirements for cars. “It is keen on establishing a foothold in India without taking into consideration that this is still an entry-car market where models will not meet frontal crash test norms,” he said.
Further, a large percentage of road deaths happen outside cars which only makes it imperative for people to drive around in them instead.
Yet, affordability remains the biggest challenge in India and this explains the large number of entry models. This was the premise for the Nano and has now been extended in the commercial mobility space to include the Bajaj quadricycle which debuts in January.