Competing Vehicular Failings

"[The Nissan Tsuru is a] deathtrap."
"The entire body shell collapsed and the head injury rating of the dummy went off the scale."
"General Motors is among the worst global brands in the region [Mexico]."
"[But the Nissan Tsuru gave] the worst performance I've ever seen."
David Ward, secretary general, Global New Car Assessment Program, London

Mexico is an alluring place, its culture, its history, its geology all represent a fascinating pull for tourism. To be sure, there is much to admire about Mexico, in Mexico, and it represents a holiday magnet for people planning to go no further than the southern tip of North America to find their idea of heaven-on-Earth, as far as climate and scenery, beaches, sun and sumptuous accommodations are concerned.

Mind, this is a country also incidentally beset by violence. There is not only the kind of poverty-driven danger that tourists may face, particularly in some areas of the country, but hectic traffic conditions where drivers are not exemplary models of driving skills. And certainly no one in their right minds can overlook the threats that exist in the country from the presence of drug cartels and the deadly wars that drug dealers inflict on one another for territory.

Putting all that aside, here's another lurking problem that people may not be aware of: the danger of renting a Mexican-produced Nissan Tsuru. Which will not be the same vehicle produced say, in the United States or in Japan where quality control and attention to mandated safety features in vehicles are uppermost in mind. But cutting out safety features considered imperative in more developed countries makes accessibility to ownership in poorer countries more feasible with a cheaper product.

The United Nations issues safety standards for vehicles and they reflect decades-old safety features that are standard throughout Europe and North America. But many of the new vehicle models available in middling-income nations in Africa, Asia and Latin American and other low-income markets don't reflect those safety features. "A double standard" favouring high-income countries, observed Mr. Ward.

Both an American and a Mexican Nissan were involved in a crash test, both speeding toward one another at a combined speed of 130 kilometers per hour, each vehicle conforming to the home country national safety standards. The U.S. 2015 Nissan Versa had considerable front-end damage with the dummy receiving minor knee injuries. In contrast the dummy in the 2015 Nissan Tsuru, popular as rentals and taxis, demonstrated massive injuries sufficient to kill.

There were no airbags in the Tsuru and the main structures failed. Tsurus were involved in over four thousand deaths on Mexican roads between 2007 and 2012, according to the Latin American chapter of the Global New Car Assessment Program. Nissan responds with the statement that its vehicles "meet or exceed safety regulations for the markets which they are sold".

The Tsuru has proven to be one of the most popular subcompact vehicles in the Mexican market "due to its affordability and its proven reliability". Doesn't reflect well on either the Mexican regulatory system or on the manufacturer of the vehicles in question. On the other hand, the Latin American chapter of the Global New Car Assessment Program ranked car manufacturers in the region's market reflecting five years of crash testing of over 60 models.

That safety performance ranking concluded that "General Motors is among the worst global brands in the region".