Nissan emphasised that the airbag issues apply to a limited number of model year 08 Navaras which were produced between May and December 2007.

Nissan has contacted more than 28,000 customers of Navaras built between 2005 and 2007 in the UK to inform them of a campaign to reprogram the sensitivity of the airbag control unit. It said the work would take 20 minutes to complete at a local Nissan dealership.

Nissan extended the service campaign to include MY05-07 Navaras as a precaution and “not because there is any suggestion that there is an issue with the airbag deployment on those vehicles”.

Euro NCAP has re-tested the Navara since the airbag fault was fixed, but is unable to publish the results for another four weeks.

Nissan said in a statement: “As soon as Nissan realised there was a possible concern with the sensitivity of the airbag control unit on MY08 Navaras, it reacted immediately to resolve the issue in production and for affected customers.

“All Navaras conform to all European regulations – they continue to be completely safe.”

The Isuzu D-Max/Rodeo also received a disappointing two star strikethrough rating in adult occupant protection with an “unacceptably high risk of life threatening injury to the chest region”.

The best of all the pick-ups tested by Euro NCAP was the Mitsubishi L200 which received a four star result in adult occupant protection. Euro NCAP said all the vehicles received "disappointing child and pedestrian safety scores".

Pick-ups were officially introduced as a new testing catergory by Euro NCAP today.

"Dr Michael van Ratigan, secretary general of Euro NCAP, said: "Euro NCAP must act as a guardian of car safety for consumers.

"Testing these vehicles becomes imperative when they are no longer simply being used for the carriage of goods. Manufacturers must realise we will test all cars that could have an impact on the safety of European consumers."

Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales and marketing, for Nissan in Europe, said: "At Nissan we take vehicle quality and integrity extremely seriously, so when the issue of the slightly delayed airbag deployment on model year 08 Navaras was identified we immediately developed a counter-measure.

"We also initiated a service campaign, inviting all owners to have updated software applied to the airbag control unit of their vehicle, so that those owners can continue to use and enjoy the Navara in total confidence. We encourage Euro NCAP to publish the result of the Navara re-test as soon as they have it."