Remember the Nissan Sentra of the early 1990s? Those cars were everywhere at the time and many still ply the roads today. Sales of the B13-generation Sentra ended in the States in 1994 as the car was redesigned for the 1995 model year, but the old version of the Sentra is still offered in Mexico as the Nissan Tsuru. Before you get all little nostalgic for the cars of the 1990s, check out this video.
Global NCAP tested the "modern" 2015 Nissan Tsuru against the 2016 Nissan Sentra, pitting the least expensive Nissan sedan sold in Mexico against the least expensive Nissan sedan sold in the U.S. The results are, well, reflective of 25 years of progress in automotive safety technology, quantified as a zero-star crash test rating for the Tsuru in a 50 percent front overlap test at 80 mph, and five stars for the Versa, which is also why the Tsuru is finally going away after all these years. Nissan will cease production of the 1992-generation Tsuru next May.
“This is a long overdue decision to cease production of a car that is fundamentally unsafe," said David Ward, Global NCAP Secretary General. "Three years ago our partner Latin NCAP crash-tested the car and revealed its Zero Star rating. It has taken Nissan too long to recognise that selling sub-standard cars is unacceptable. At last they have responded to the demands of Latin NCAP and Mexican consumers to withdraw the Tsuru from the market."
What would have happened to the driver of the Tsuru had the crash test dummies been replaced with real people? Global NCAP says that the driver of the air-bagless Tsuru would have faced a high probability of life-threatening and likely fatal injuries while the driver of the Versa would have been protected by front and side air-bags. The crash structure of the Tsuru, needless to say, also did not hold up well, while the Versa used its crumple zones to absorb the impact of the crash, leaving the passenger compartment intact.
"Our Car to Car crash test demonstrates why these Zero Star cars should be removed from the market immediately," said Alejandro Furas, Latin NCAP Secretary General. "In April this year we published a report showing that the Nissan Tsuru had been involved in more than 4,000 deaths on Mexico’s roads between 2007 and 2012. Even though we welcome Nissan’s announcement, why should at least 15,000 more units of this potentially life threatening model be sold between now and May? Why has it taken Nissan three years since we first crash tested and gave the Tsuru a Zero Star rating to take this unsafe car out of production?"
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
