ANCAP: Mazda CX-3 grabs five stars

MAZDA has improved on its disappointing four-star Euro NCAP score for its CX-3 crossover with a five-star rating awarded by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) in the latest round of testing.

The CX-3 was marked down in Europe for its lack of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard, which kept its score in the Safety Assist category to 64 per cent, ensuring a four-star score.

In the Australian test however, the CX-3 – which is offered with AEB as an option Down Under – was awarded an overall score of 36.44 out of 37 from ANCAP to nab a five-star rating.

The CX-3 only lost points in the pedestrian impact test, receiving 27.60 out of 36 to still ensure a ‘Good’ rating, and slight deductions in the frontal offset test.

The Mazda2 light car – on which the CX-3 is based – also achieved the maximum five-star rating with a total of 36.65 out of 37. It also received a ‘Good’ rating for pedestrian protection, despite losing a few points for stiff A-pillars, and it achieved strong results in the frontal offset and side impact tests.

While praising Mazda for offering AEB as an option on both the CX-3 and the Mazda2, ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke called for car-makers to make it standard fitment across their ranges.

“It is great to see AEB becoming more common in the Australian new car market, but we would like to see AEB as a standard feature in new vehicles, rather than as an optional extra,” he said.

“International studies have shown the effectiveness of AEB systems in preventing real world crashes may be higher than 50 per cent.”

Audi’s TT sportscar received a four-star rating, with ANCAP using its results from the Euro NCAP crash test rather than conducting their own test for this vehicle.

“Although the TT performed well in numerous areas for adult occupants and pedestrian protection, insufficient Safety Assist Technologies and inadequate child occupant protection – caused the TT's overall rating to be limited to four stars,” ANCAP said in a statement.

The European test showed that the TT lost points for potential chest injury for rear passengers in the full-width frontal test, and chest and legs in the frontal offset test.

Its lack of AEB, poor whiplash protection for rear occupants and child occupant protection score of 33.6 out of 49 also impacted negatively on the overall score.

ANCAP has been pushing for wider adoption of AEB in cars for some time to help reduce the number of low-speed crashes.

Mr Clarke highlighted more advanced versions of the technology, suggesting they could further reduce the number of crashes on Australian roads.

“The introduction of more advanced AEB systems – which work at a range of speeds, and which are able to detect other obstacles such as pedestrians and cyclists – will contribute to a further reduction in the number and severity of road crashes,” said Mr Clarke.