Datsun will soon provide its popular car Go hatchback with driver-side airbags, as confirmed by Nissan India, which is the parent company for this budget brand. Incidentally, the production of this airbag-equipped model has not commenced yet. However, there are confirmed reports that production procedure for this model will begin at the Oragadam plant, located near Chennai, from the next month. It is expected that this feature will increase the safety aspects of the car, thus popularising it among the car enthusiasts.
Incidentally, there was a setback for Datsun Go in the Global NCAP tests just few months ago. Obviously, the decision to add airbags after this test failure has sparked rumours that it was an outcome for this event. However, the Japanese car manufacturer has rubbished any such conclusions. The company, on the contrary, has stated that the plan to install airbags was present right from the beginning of the project. However, the driver side airbag will feature only in the top-end T-trim variant.
It must be noted that there was a huge uproar in the auto industry in November 2014 when the Go hatchback scored a clean zero in the crash tests. In addition to this fact, the testing body as well as the FIA (Federation Internationale de Automobile) had directed the manufacturer to take the Go hatch off the roads. The federation had reported a problem with the structural rigidity of the car, even though the lack of airbags made things worse. FIA had ordered to get the car off the production lines apart from stopping its operation. The addition of airbags now might add to the safety aspects and allow it to get a clearance from the Federation. However, its safety aspects may require to be increased further to get a clean chit from the FIA in future.
