Accident Reconstruction Network > News > August 2005 > 08/31/05

Accident Reconstruction News Article

Nissan unveils new car-to-car crash test facility

YOKOSUKA, Japan, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Nissan Motor Co. (7201.T: Quote, Profile, Research) unveiled on Wednesday a new research facility to perform car-to-car collision tests as part of its aim to develop safer vehicles and reduce fatalities and injuries for its users.

The 40,000 square-metre laboratory in Yokosuka, outside Tokyo, began operations this month and will also conduct tests simulating rollover accidents.

With its balance sheet fully repaired and profits growing at a healthy clip, Japan's second-biggest auto maker has been boosting its R&D spending to catch up with domestic rivals Honda Motor Co. (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) , which both already have similar test sites.

Nissan, owned 44 percent by Renault SA (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , once had a facility of its own but closed it in 2001 to cut costs and focus its slim resources on reviving its shattered business.

Nissan officials said its new laboratory was superior to those at Toyota and Honda, with the ability to reproduce collisions over a wider range of angles in 5-degree increments, versus 15 degrees for its rivals.

They acknowledged, however, that Sweden's Volvo AB (VOLVb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) , long reputed as a global leader in safety technology, was a formidable rival, but added that Japanese car makers excelled when it came to safety in compact cars.

Major car makers around the world are racing to develop next-generation safety features to offer customers more value-added products in an increasingly competitive industry.

"Our aim first and foremost is to provide the highest level of safety to our customers," said Keiichi Murata, vice president in charge of vehicle design engineering and testing.

"But of course the hope is that these efforts will translate into more sales and profits."

In a demonstration of the collision test to the media, Nissan showed its Fuga luxury sedan and Tiida compact crashing into each other at 50 km (31 miles) an hour, leaving the front end of the Tiida smashed in but the cabin intact thanks to reinforcements in the door and body co-developed with Renault.

Nissan has set a goal of halving the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving its cars in Japan by 2015 compared with 1995 levels.

So far, the use of advanced technology such as pre-tensioner seatbelts and lane departure prevention systems have succeeded in reducing the number of cases by 22 percent in 2003, it said.

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