Watch Nissan's Brand-New Datsun Go Crash Its Way to Zero Stars

9 years, 11 months ago - 13 November 2014, Autoblog

There has been a steady march of progress in automotive safety over the years, evolving from the initial introduction of seat belts and padded dash surfaces to airbags and anti-lock brakes, and, more recently, to some of today's vehicles that actively try to avoid a crash.

Unfortunately, knowing about all of that advancement only makes the incredibly poor performance of the Indian-market Datsun Go in a recent crash test by Global NCAP that much more terrifying to watch.

The little hatchback is marketed as cheap transportation from Nissan's entry-level Datsun brand with a 1.2-liter engine and prices starting around 400,000 rupees (around $6,500 at current rates). However, with no airbags or even anti-lock brakes, Global NCAP found that the budget model poses a huge risk of injury in a crash. The organization gives the vehicle's adult safety rating zero out of five stars and just two stars for child safety.

The 40-mile-per-hour (64km/h) test is horrifying to watch, and the video shows it from multiple angles. The situation is so bad that the organization is asking Nissan to take the Go off the market to redesign the model's body-shell to be safer in an accident. The inexpensive hatchback already is suffering from abysmal sales in India, maybe a second pass wouldn't hurt.

It's worth noting that Global NCAP has tested other small, entry-level cars in India such as the Maruti Suzuki Alto, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10 and Tata Nano, and scored each of those at zero stars, as well. The Volkswagen Polo was also tested and initially earned zero stars, but after VW responded by making dual airbags standard, the rating was upgraded to four stars.