SUV sets second highest score

Nissan’s new Qashqai has secured Ancap’s maximum five-star safety rating by achieving the second-highest score to date in the safety-assist area of assessment.

The small SUV achieved five-star scores in each of the four key areas of testing and, in doing so, chalked up an “impressive” high score of 97 per cent for its safety-assist pillar. 

This score was reached through the standard fitment of an advanced and robust range of collision-avoidance technologies.

Full points were scored for its active-lane support, and AEB junction and back-over capabilities. AEB pedestrian and cyclist performances were also strong. High scores were awarded for the Qashqai’s AEB car-to-car tests and speed-assistance system.

“Nissan is to be congratulated for the Qashqai’s range of active-safety systems,” says Carla Hoorweg, Ancap’s chief executive officer. “The presence and performance of these features demonstrate the significant effort Nissan has made to offer the best safety equipment possible to buyers.”

Maximum points were also awarded for the ability of the SUV, pictured, to protect the driver in the destructive side impact and oblique pole tests. Adequate performance was recorded for the driver’s chest in the frontal offset and full-width frontal tests.

Marginal performance was noted in the full-width test for the chest of the adult female dummy in the second row. High scores were awarded for the Qashqai’s protection of young passengers with an overall child-occupant protection score of 93 per cent.