According to an official statement from the testing body "the Pathfinder nearly achieved Euro NCAP's maximum of 5 stars."
The Pathfinder scored maximum points for side impact protection, including the pole test, but lost out slightly on frontal impact protection due to certain structures on the dashboard which could cause injury to the driver or front passenger's legs.
These included the centre console and adjusters for the steering column tilt mechanism.
The Pathfinder scored 32 points in all for adult protection - one more point would have earned the car 5 stars.
The only 4x4s to have achieved 5 stars in Euro NCAP tests so far are the BMW X5 (33 points), the Volkswagen Touareg (34 points) and the Volvo XC 90 (34 points).