Airbag Timeline: Minicars, 1989-1995

Updated December 27, 2017 to include the Subaru Justy.

There were a few cars that were smaller than even the small car class, so here's the airbag timeline for the six smallest cars on the market in the '90s.



The presence of the Dodge Omni makes this an odd chart to consider. Prior to late 1992, the only way you could get a minicar new with an air bag was to get a Dodge Omni; this model, launched in 1978, was a beneficiary of Chrysler Corporation's policy that all of its US-built cars (read: the vast majority of cars it sold) would have a driver air bag standard beginning in the 1990 model year.

The Omni was made for 13 model years, 1978 to 1990, with the same body style; only in the final (and shortened) 1990 model year did it have an air bag. Omni production ended on February 2, 1990.

For 1993, the Toyota Tercel made a driver air bag standard.

For 1994, Ford replaced the Festiva with the Aspire, which came with dual air bags. The Subaru Justy was discontinued after this year without a replacement. It never got an air bag.

For 1995, Hyundai replaced the Excel with the Accent, which came with dual air bags; the Geo Metro was redesigned, also adding dual air bags.






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