Latin NCAP confirms five-star rating for the Brazilian-made Nissan New Kicks
Latin NCAP's audit of the Brazilian-made Nissan New Kicks confirms that the five-star rating earned by the Mexican-made version also applies to the Brazilian car.
- 86.29%
- 91.66%
- 72.79%
- 85.17%
What Happened
Latin NCAP, the New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, has updated its result for the Nissan New Kicks tested in 2025. The Mexican-made version achieved five stars, and at that moment Latin NCAP announced that when the Brazilian-made New Kicks became available on the market it would be audited to confirm or not that both versions offered the same safety rating. That audit test has now been carried out: the Brazilian-made model showed overall good performance, enough to confirm the five-star rating achieved by the Mexican version. The update comes ahead of the release of the first results under Latin NCAP's new assessment protocol.
Latin NCAP tests the Mexican-made Nissan New Kicks, which achieves five stars, and announces that the Brazilian-made version will be audited when it becomes available.
Latin NCAP publishes the audit result for the Brazilian-made New Kicks, confirming the same five-star rating.
Latin NCAP will begin presenting results of models tested under its recently updated assessment protocol.
- Five stars; a door opening was recorded in the side impact
- Five stars confirmed; no door opening in the side impact, explained by an improvement Nissan implemented in both production lines
- Unstable footwell area and marginal whiplash protection, explained by some differences in the seats
- Overall good performance, enough to confirm the five-star rating of the Mexican version.
- No door opening in the side impact, unlike the Mexican-made car, after an improvement applied by Nissan in both production lines.
- An unstable footwell area.
- Marginal whiplash protection, explained by differences in the seats.
- Tested as a voluntary decision of the manufacturer, in the 6-airbag version.
Five stars
Confirmed by an audit test for both the Mexican-made and the Brazilian-made Nissan New Kicks
After the audit assessment, the model's performance was updated to 86.29% in Adult Occupant protection, 91.66% in Child Occupant protection, 72.79% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users, and 85.17% in Safety Assist. The tested vehicle was the Nissan New Kicks with 6 airbags, and Latin NCAP published the full crash test report. Latin NCAP also says it will begin presenting results of models tested under its recently updated assessment protocol in the upcoming days.
Why this matters
The audit matters to buyers in Brazil: it confirms the locally built New Kicks delivers the same five-star safety performance as the Mexican-made version rather than leaving it unverified. It also shows how a regional safety programme checks that a rating earned at one production site holds for another, a test Nissan chose to undergo voluntarily.
Terms in This Story
- Latin NCAP
- The New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, an independent programme that crash-tests vehicles and publishes star ratings for consumers.
- Whiplash protection
- How well a seat and its head restraint protect the neck from injury in a rear-end collision.
- Footwell area
- The floor area around the front occupants' feet, assessed in crash tests for how stable it stays and how much it deforms.
- Safety Assist
- The part of a safety rating that scores crash-avoidance and driver-assistance technologies.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.