Pulsar: Still no ANCAP results

It could be months before buyers of Nissan’s new Pulsar small car know whether they are putting their money down on a four-star or a five-star ANCAP safety-rated car.

Launched this week from a back-to-the future $19,990 recommended retail price, the Pulsar is a cornerstone of Nissan’s plan to regenerate its share of Australian passenger car sales.

But the car’s crash worthiness has yet to be tested under the independent ANCAP system, and Nissan both here and at a global level has refused to state to motoring.com.au whether it believes the car is worthy of the maximum five stars.

Unlike some other manufacturers, such as Subaru and Hyundai, Nissan has not paid to have the ANCAP test expedited.

Ahead of an ANCAP test, manufacturers often also indicate whether they believe their new cars will achieve five stars based on computer modelling, but Nissan won’t even do this.

If the Pulsar achieves only four ANCAP stars, it would be a blow to the car’s engineering and safety credibility, as no other recently launched big-selling small car scores less than the maximum five stars, with the exception of the yet-to-be-tested Toyota Corolla.

At a press function in December, Nissan said that it anticipated an ANCAP test in February, but that appears unlikely.

ANCAP Communications Manager Rhianne Robson said the Pulsar was “on our radar. We hope to test it in the first half of this year.”

Nissan Australia Managing Director Bill Peffer told motoring.com.au that it would be “premature” for Nissan to predict a star rating score for the Pulsar.

“It is premature because the car hasn’t been tested. We’re working with ANCAP. We’ll provide them a car, they’ll test it and they will report the results,” Mr Peffer explained.

“There is no conspiracy, nothing wrong happening - they just haven’t tested the car yet.

“We are not averting anything in that test. We will test it and see what happens.

“I have learned and I think it is probably good counsel to follow ... don’t commit (to a crash score) until that test actually occurs.”

Separately, Nissan’s global product planning boss Andy Palmer told motoring.com.au via email: “Bottom line – not tested by authorities yet so hard to predict for certain.”

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