GLOBAL NCAP CALLS NISSAN NP300 HARDBODY 'A DEVASTATING ZERO-STAR CAR'

After reviewing the results of their latest test on the South African built Nissan NP300 Hardbody, Global NCAP testers suggested the bakkie should not be sold “in any market anywhere in the world”.

The secretary general of Global NCAP, David Ward, said that the bakkie "scored zero stars for safety" after they conducted the second round of evaluations of vehicles sold in South Africa.

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

“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.”

Earlier reports from Global NCAP noted Nissan's Hardbody exhibited “poor adult occupant protection mainly in the driver head and chest areas in the frontal crash test at 64 km/h”.

They condemned the vehicle's structure, rating it as "unstable" as it had completely "collapsed". The steering column did the opposite though and turned into a battering ram, penetrating the passenger compartment and “creating an additional risk for the driver as it moved straight into the dummy's chest”.

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

Which is a worry considering how many of them are on our roads. It's simply astounding that this same company can create amazing supercar eaters like the GT-R but can't pass a crash test in a bakkie. For Shame.

Check out the test and resulting mayhem from the impact in the video below.