ANCAP: Nissan QASHQAI goes big on safety

The all-new 2022 Nissan QASHQAI has achieved a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, thanks in part to the second-highest Safety Assist score ever awarded by the local independent automotive safety body.

Fresh out of Japan and in local showrooms now, the new Nissan QASHQAI scored 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 93 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per for vulnerable road user protection and 97 per cent for its Safety Assist systems.

The exceptional Safety Assist result drew praise from ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg, who said: “Nissan is to be congratulated for the QASHQAI’s range of active safety systems”.

Full marks were awarded for the all-new compact SUV’s active lane keeping and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems, the latter including collision detection at junctions and while reversing.

High scores were awarded for the AEB’s pedestrian and cyclist detection functions as well its car-to-car collision mitigation capability, plus the new QASHQAI’s speed assist system.

“The presence and performance of these features demonstrates the significant effort Nissan has made to offer the best safety equipment possible to QASHQAI buyers,” Hoorweg said.

The QASHQAI’s physical crash testing also yielded exceptionally high scores, with full points being awarded for its driver protection in the destructive side impact and oblique pole tests, however, driver’s chest protection was only deemed to be ‘adequate’ in the frontal offset and full-width frontal tests.

‘Marginal’ results were similarly noted in the full-width test for the chest of the adult female dummy seated in the second row.

Still, these few blemishes weren’t enough to detract from what was overall a very positive score card, one that Hoorweg said would be “welcomed by families and fleet buyers looking to purchase their next SUV”.

It’s worth noting the five-star safety ANCAP safety rating only applies to petrol-powered Nissan QASHQAI variants and not the upcoming e-Power flagships that are due to arrive here in early 2023, given their significantly different powertrains and structural differences including battery packaging.