For those of you who didn’t know, Nissan recently reanimated the Datsun nameplate for the Indian market, specifically to take on the ultimate in cheap-car transportation: the TATA Nano. Their opening salvo, the first car to carry the Datsun nameplate since it was discontinued in 1986, is the GO, a 68hp blip of a car that has all the charm and welcome of a Russian prison guard. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the car itself and tell me you honestly see a car you can make a positive argument for.
The idea behind cars like the Nano and GO are to offer India’s population an affordable four-wheeled option to using a motorcycle or moped for transportation. The prices are low, with the GO priced at about $7,000, and the cars are meant to be economical, so of course there’s no hint of performance anywhere to be seen.
But what about safety? How would a car that is essentially a warmed-over Nissan Micra without airbags do in NCAP testing? Well, the answer is horrifyingly bad, as the Global NCAP result was zero stars. Zero. Not one, zero. And watching the crash test shows why. This thing folds faster than a Coke can. The lack of airbags is actually one of the smaller issues with the car, as the whole nose of the GO accordions and the dash goes straight for the passengers. The roof buckles, the floor buckles, and the driver meets the steering wheel with frightening speed and force.
Luckily, the trend in India right now is that someone who wants to move to a car is willing to skip a car that resembles cheap and will go straight up a couple of levels to another car. Smart, because this version of entry-level isn’t worth the effort of building. Hopefully Nissan is sincerely ashamed of this car. The company that brought you Infinity should not be bringing this level of indifference towards safety to any car market, period.
I want one!
Has anybody else lost faith in Nissan ever since they were bought up by Renault?
I can think of one positive thing to say about the Datsun Go: It is not a Tata Nano.
It looked like the seat belts weren’t working properly in that video – or the point they were mounted to folded up too fast, hard to say which.
I guess I would like to see what a “global” 125cc cycle would look like in the same test.
Probably still safer than that car, though.
Slap some decals on it, put fancy wheels and bigger tires on it, load it up with all the fancy ass electronics and give it a kool name. Then start importing it to the USA and the sheeple will flock to the showrooms and buy it.
Not sure I agree on this one. First, the thing doesn’t look any worse than a Honda Fit, which is itself a POC. Second, this thing is intended for use in an area where people (or sheeple) don’t drive highway speeds very much. As an alternative to a motorcycle, and we have all seen the pictures of people riding four to a bike there, this makes sense. Sure, airbag it up, add a couple hundred pounds of sheet metal and steel reinforcing, and the vehicle becomes marginally safer. But the cost goes up, the people who could have bought at 7 grand can no longer buy it, and they ride four to a bike again.
What was up with the driver side seat belt ? It did look like it went slack on impact . Even the “baby’s” in the back went flying.
More like the Datsun NO.
It looks like any other featureless, soulless small car the industry spews out. The one difference is that one is TRULY garbage, not just garbage like in appearance.
I shall buy one for the ex-wife……
Maybe all new cars should wad up like that, might make people drive a little more careful. . . . oh, wait, never mind.
The question that really matters: will it go 11’s on boost???
Infiniti. Not infinity.