Australasia's independent voice on vehicle safety, ANCAP, has today announced a five-star safety rating for the new Nissan Pathfinder.

All variants of the three-row Nissan Pathfinder have achieved five stars after being put through the comprehensive range of active and passive safety tests conducted at local test facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and regional NSW.

Full points were awarded for the Pathfinder's protection of the driver in both the side impact and oblique pole tests, and the front-seat passenger in the frontal offset test. High scores were also awarded for protection of the driver in the full width frontal test, however chest protection for the rear passenger in this test was rated as Weak.

For the protection of child occupants, maximum points were scored in the frontal offset and side impact tests. The Pathfinder is fitted with ISOFIX and top-tether anchorages for all three seats in the second row, and in the left-hand seat of the third row. An overall Child Occupant Protection score of 93% was achieved.

The new Pathfinder is fitted with a centre airbag to minimise occupant-to-occupant and occupant-to-vehicle contact in the front row, and good results were achieved in tests of its effectiveness. Head-protecting side curtain airbags are also fitted as standard, and extend to cover the outboard seating positions of all three seating rows.

An autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system capable of detecting and responding to pedestrians and cyclists is fitted to all Pathfinder variants. This system was shown to provide an Adequate level of overall performance in pedestrian test scenarios, and Good performance in tests with cyclists travelling along and across the road.

Collisions with other vehicles are also minimised through the Pathfinder's AEB car-to-car system. A Good overall performance score was recorded, with the Pathfinder able to brake autonomously in emergency situations when approaching a stopped or slower moving car, or when turning across the path of an oncoming car.

"We've seen some impressive safety results from Nissan this year with the Qashqai, X-Trail, and now the Pathfinder all achieving five star safety ratings," said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

"We look forward to seeing Nissan continue their commitment to offering the highest levels of safety for Australian and New Zealand customers with future models," Ms Hoorweg added.