It seems the Japanese sales slump and the company’s considerations of government assistance haven’t slowed Toyota’s R&D department down one bit. News has surfaced this week that the Japanese giant has developed the world’s first rear centre airbag.

Developed to help reduce the severity of injuries incurred in side-on collisions, the airbag would be fitted to the rear-seat centre console of four-seat Toyota models and is designed to deploy when the car is hit from the side.

Toyota is yet to announce which models will get the new airbag, or when we should expect to see it on the market, but it looks like buyers now have another box to tick when looking through a new car’s list of safety features.