Chris Paukert/Roadshow
Not long ago, we covered a story that 2021 Nissan Rogue models built in Nissan’s Kyushu factory before Jan. 28, 2021, had only managed a two-star NHTSA crash rating for front passengers. Obviously, this is pretty bad, so Nissan was already at work remedying the problem for cars built after that date, both in Japan and in Tennessee.
It hasn’t retested the vehicles with a modified structure yet. Still, the automaker is so confident that its improvements will work that it’s offering to retrofit those Kyushu-built vehicles in customer’s hands so that they no longer have to worry about that two-star performance, according to a statement released by the company on Tuesday:
Nissan is committed to vehicle safety and is pleased with the 2021 Nissan Rogue’s overall 4-star NCAP safety rating. All 2021 Rogue vehicles fully comply with federal safety standards.
Nissan is aware of the two-star NCAP rating for front-passenger safety for 2021 Rogue vehicles assembled at Nissan’s Kyushu, Japan, manufacturing facility prior to Jan. 28, 2021. Nissan applied an update to the front passenger restraint system on all 2021 Rogue vehicles assembled at Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee plant, and all vehicles produced after Jan. 28 at the Kyushu plant. Therefore the two-star front-passenger safety rating only applies to the vehicles produced at the Kyushu plant prior to Jan. 28.
To ensure customer confidence and satisfaction, Nissan will soon launch a service campaign to update 2021 Rogue vehicles produced in Kyushu prior to January 28, 2021. Owners will receive notification as to when to bring their vehicle in for updates.
The front-passenger safety systems in the vehicles that received the update have yet to be tested by NHTSA. An additional test of the 2021 Rogue is scheduled with results expected in May.
Now, Nissan should be commended here for undertaking this action voluntarily and without a recall, but we’ll hold off on the kudos until May rolls around with the new test results. Nissan also hasn’t received the crash test ratings for the 2021 Rogue from the much more stringent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, so we’ll be very curious to see how it fares there.
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