Mazda 2 and Nissan Almera – New crash test rankings revealed

The Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) in partnership with the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa has announced the results of the latest #SaferCarsForAfrica campaign.

This saw local vehicles tested for crash safety and occupant protection.

This round saw the Mazda 2 hatchback and Nissan Almera sedan put through their paces, amounting to a total of 18 cars that have been tested since 2017.

Both vehicles were bought in Gauteng by the AA and sent to Munich, Germany for testing in 2021.

Mazda 2 results

The Mazda 2 on test was made in Thailand and comes with two airbags as standard.

The only Mazda 2 with two airbags on sale in South Africa is the entry-level Active.

The hatchback scored a 4-star adult protection rating and a 3-star child protection rating.

During crash impact, the Mazda experienced a driver seat backrest failure and footwell rupture – but kept a stable structure, said the organisation.

It also noted this is the second time the Mazda 2 has shown driver seat problems during testing.

Nissan Almera results

The Nissan Almera on test was made in India and comes with two airbags as standard.

Only two Nissan Almera specifications are on offer in South Africa – both equipped with two airbags.

The sedan scored a 3-star rating for both adult and child protection.

As with the Mazda, the Nissan experienced driver seat detachment, as well as compromised knee protection.

“Although these did not have significant effects on our assessment ratings, which are based on injury criteria, the failures are of serious concern and Global NCAP has raised them with each manufacturer as a matter of urgency,” said the organisation.

“Both models were equipped with ISOFIX anchorages and combined with effective Child Restraint Systems showed good protection in the dynamic test.”

All results

The #SaferCarsForAfrica campaign performed by the Global NCAP organisation currently only tests frontal crash protection.

Side and pedestrian impact protection will become part of the testing at a later period, said the organisation, as the programme that test vehicles destined for the African market are still somewhat behind the programmes for the European and Latin American markets.

The organisation also recommends that the public do not buy any vehicles that haven’t been put through a crash test, as this would incentivise automakers to send their vehicles for review.

Currently, the NCAP needs to buy a vehicle themselves or a vehicle must be donated for testing – otherwise, no impact protection results would be attainable.

Detailed below are the #SaferCarsForAfrica test results from 2017 to 2021, as provided by the AA: