Mahindra, MG misjudge safety expectations

ANCAP has slammed Mahindra and MG in its latest round of testing, issuing a zero-star rating to the Scorpio SUV and MG 5 sedan.

Local testing showed both vehicles were unable to achieve a safety rating any higher than zero stars due to a range of both physical and active collision avoidance performance.

ANCAP states that in many areas of its assessment of the two models, there was a “fundamental omission of safety features that have been commonplace in new cars for many years”.

“Both brands have misjudged the safety expectations of today’s consumers,” stated ANCAP chief executive officer, Carla Hoorweg.

The MG 5 recorded significant injury risk measurements for the chest (Poor) and legs (Poor) of the driver in the frontal offset test, and the chest (Poor) and legs (Poor) of the rear passenger in the full width test.

Penalties were applied for chest deflection and seatbelt loading exceeding injury limits, and hazards behind the dashboard structure.

Loading on the head and neck of the child dummies in the MG 5 was significantly higher than seen in most current generation vehicles with Weak results seen for three of the four dummies across both the frontal and side impact tests – indicating a lack of design effort to prevent rear-seat occupant injury in frontal impact and side impact scenarios.

Seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters are not fitted to front or rear seating positions of the base Vibe variant of the MG 5, nor the rear seating positions on the Essence variant; a centre airbag is not offered, nor is lane support or blind spot monitoring.

AEB performance was noted as limited or unavailable, while aids to monitor driver alertness or the presence of children inadvertently left in the vehicle are not offered.

In percentage terms, the MG 5 scored 37 per cent in the Adult Occupant Protection category, 58 per cent in the Child Occupant Protection category, 42 per cent in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category, and 13 per cent in the Safety Assist category.

For the Mahindra Scorpio, an uneasy mix of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, Weak and Poor protection assessments was noted for adult occupants in the frontal offset, full width frontal, side impact, and oblique pole crash tests.

A high risk of serious injury was recorded for the head, neck, and chest of the rear female passenger in the full width frontal test with a penalty applied for high seatbelt loading.

In the side impact test, the driver’s seatbelt was observed to unlatch during deployment of the seatbelt pre-tensioner immediately prior to impact. While having no impact test score, ANCAP has reported this to the manufacturer for further examination.

The Mahindra Scorpio is a three-row vehicle with side curtain airbags fitted for first and second rows only. Top tether child restraint anchorages are not fitted in the third row, and this vehicle is therefore not suitable for transporting young children in these seating position. A centre airbag is not offered.

The Scorpio is offered as a six-seat vehicle in Australia. In New Zealand, a seven-seat variant is also sold. The seven-seat NZ variant provides a lap-only seatbelt in the centre seating position of the second row. Lap-only belts have not been commonplace in new vehicles for more than a decade.

The Mahindra Scorpio is not equipped with any form of active collision avoidance and therefore scored zero per cent for the Safety Assist area of the assessment. Other percentage results are 44 per cent in the Adult Occupant Protection category, 80 per cent in the Child Occupant Protection category, and 23 per cent in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category.

“The MG 5 and Mahindra Scorpio were both released into the Australian and New Zealand new car markets for the first time this year, yet it’s clear that their safety offerings are some generations behind what we see with almost every new car on sale today,” said Ms Hoorweg.

“This is a stark reminder that not all cars offer the same level of safety – even when they’re brand-new models.

“Market competition is healthy and encouraged, however there is also a well-established expectation from Australian and New Zealand private consumers and fleet buyers that new cars entering our market offer the best levels of safety.

“With our independent test results now to hand, we hope to see significant improvements made to these models to have them more closely align with the safety credentials offered by their competitors.”