Nissan has announced that it is to include advanced safety systems on the new Note and is claiming that it is first-in-segment.
Described as the Nissan Safety Shield, the company claims that it is the first to include such systems – blind spot warning, lane departure warning and moving object detection as well as Nissan’s ‘around view monitor’ – on a small car.
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Radar-based safety technologies such as advance collision warning and blind-spot detection are becoming commonplace as optional equipment on new C-segment vehicles.
This announcement from Nissan chimes with our interviews with TRW and Ficosa earlier this week. While we have seen multi-function cameras on the high-end and medium segment cars for some time, such technology is indeed permeating down to the low-end in Europe.
An executive from TRW told us: “Multi-function cameras have already penetrated down to mass market C-segment vehicles in Europe, and are expected to migrate further downwards in the next five years, potentially driven by EuroNCAP and future regulations. Obviously the A and B segments are the most price-sensitive, but at the same time smaller and lighter vehicles that are more vulnerable in a crash can also benefit the most from crash avoidance technologies, and OEMs could potentially use this as a safety differentiator in this segment.”
We also talked with Ficosa earlier this week around this area. Just looking back, say 3-4 years ago at what was predicted in terms of the application of camera-based technologies, those predictions have come true in terms of the pace of technology permeating down the car segments. An executive from Ficosa told us: “In the meantime, we are seeing low- and mid-class cars are equipped with ADAS and especially with camera systems, e.g. the VW Golf is offered with a choice of 12 ADAS systems. The legislation is also pushing in the same direction, e.g. EU-NCAP.”
