The secretary general of Global NCAP says the Nissan NP300 Hardbody should not be sold “in any market anywhere in the world” in its current state.

David Ward made the comments after the SA-built bakkie scored zero stars for safety during the second round of Global NCAP evaluations of vehicles sold in South Africa.

“The body shell has completely collapsed. Even though it has airbags, it’s a devastating zero-star car very high risk of fatal or serious injury,” Ward said.

“The car is fitted with airbags but, frankly, in a crash like this they would have been very little help. All the energy of the crash has been allowed to go back into the occupant compartment with catastrophic results,” he added.

The global safety organisation had earlier reported the Hardbody exhibited “poor adult occupant protection mainly in the driver head and chest areas in the frontal crash test at 64 km/h”.

Global NCAP said the vehicle structure “collapsed” and it was rated as “unstable”. The steering column, meanwhile, did not collapse, penetrating the passenger compartment and “creating an additional risk for the driver as it moved straight into the dummy chest”.

Ward suggested the bakkie shouldn't be sold “anywhere in the world”.

“It’s not something, really, that a company with the global reputation of Nissan, should be contemplating in any market anywhere in the world,” Ward said.

Original article from Car