Mixed results from latest ANCAP tests

THE latest round of local ANCAP safety testing yields mixed results for a trio of entrants, including the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, Kia EV5, and Suzuki Swift.

While the Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Kia EV5 demonstrated high levels of safety – achieving a five-star result against the latest test criteria – the Suzuki Swift scored a shock one-star rating, with ANCAP labelling the results as “concerning”.

For the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, ANCAP awarded scores of 85 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 89 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 84 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 82 per cent for Safety Assist sections of the assessment.

ANCAP said that in the demanding frontal offset head-on crash test, the level of protection offered to most critical body regions of the driver and front passenger was Good except for the driver’s lower leg and chest where protection was rated as Adequate and Marginal respectively.

For the two child dummies seated in the second row, protection was Good and the LandCruiser Prado achieved maximum points.

ANCAP chief executive officer Carla Hoorweg noted that the LandCruiser Prado is equipped with active collision avoidance features capable of detecting other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, with Good performance recorded across the majority of on-track test scenarios.

“The new Toyota Prado delivers a robust level of safety that aligns with the expectations of fleet buyers and everyday consumers,” she said.

“This is yet another strong result with the new generation Prado demonstrating Toyota’s continued focus on safety across its model line-up.”

For the all-electric Kia EV5, ANCAP testing revealed good overall performance, including an impressive vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility score.

Maximum points were scored for the driver in the side impact test, both child dummies in the frontal offset test, AEB car-to-car collision avoidance performance, and for its post-crash credentials including multi-collision braking, vehicle submergence countermeasures, and provision of a first-responder Rescue Sheet.

Testing did however provide constructive feedback for Kia, with a small opening detected in the footwell seam following the frontal offset test, a reduced level of head-to-head contact protection to front seat occupants in the oblique pole test, and potential hard knee contact for front seat occupants in the frontal offset test.

Penalties were applied.

“The Kia EV5 has been put through its paces, with notable areas of good performance as well as some areas we hope Kia will look to enhance,” said Ms Hoorweg.

But it is there that the good news ends…

ANCAP slammed the fourth generation Suzuki Swift with a one-star crash test result, saying the model revealed several areas of concern.

A score of 47 per cent was achieved for Adult Occupant Protection, and 59 per cent scored for Child Occupant Protection.

Its collision avoidance performance was also limited, with a score of 54 per cent recorded in the Safety Assist assessment pillar.

“Earlier this year ANCAP was informed of physical differences between locally supplied Swift models and those supplied in Europe so we conducted a range of additional crash tests on local vehicles and found some areas of concern,” stated Ms Hoorweg.

“In comparison to the three-star rating achieved by Swift vehicles sold in Europe, vehicles sold in Australia and New Zealand performed differently when crash tested.”

Performance variation was seen in the frontal offset and full-width crash tests, with higher chest loads and leg injury risk (excessive pedal movement) to the driver in the frontal offset test, and a significantly greater rear passenger chest compression measurement recorded in the full-with test which exceeded allowable limits.

Protection of the chest – a critical body region – was therefore assessed as Poor and the score capped, resulting in zero points awarded for this test.

“The design of some of the structural elements and restraints in locally sold Swift vehicles appear to lack robustness leading to variation in crash performance,” she added.

Poor scores were also recorded for the head and chest of the child dummies in the head-on and side-impact crash test scenarios. ANCAP said the Child Occupant Protection result of 59 per cent is one of the lowest scores seen to date.

The Suzuki Swift is the latest model to enter the Australasian market with different safety credentials to its European counterpart. It follows safety-related differences recently uncovered through ANCAP assessments of the Honda Civic, CR-V and ZR-V.

While ANCAP and Euro NCAP test and rating criteria were aligned in 2018 to promote consistency across markets, scrutiny of locally available models remains essential to identify specification differences.

“This one-star result serves as an important reminder for prospective buyers to check the ANCAP safety rating of the vehicle they’re looking to buy,” concluded Ms Hoorweg.