Australia’s leading independent vehicle safety advocate, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), has issued crash test results for three imported utes on the Australian market. All three scored poorly.
The highly anticipated Great Wall Motors SA220 and V240 utes from China received only two-stars out of a possible five, while the Malaysian Proton Jumbuck ute only rated a single star.
ANCAP Chair, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh, said the results were of great concern, particularly since commercial vehicles are now more commonly rating four- and even five-stars. Many passenger vehicles of course are five-star rated.
Mr McIntosh also expressed concern about the widening gap between Australian Design Rules (ADRs) and ANCAP’s safety testing.
“Crash statistics show that occupants of one- or two-stars vehicles have twice the risk of receiving life-threatening injuries in a crash, compared with four- or five-star vehicles, at a time when four- and five-star ratings are becoming increasingly available for new car buyers,” Mr McIntosh said.
“New vehicles that achieve only a one- or two-star ANCAP rating, while meeting the ADRs, are a cause for concern.
“The results for the Great Wall vehicles were particularly disappointing as these are new models to the market. The SA220 and the Jumbuck lack airbags and other safety features that are expected as standard equipment by new car buyers.
“The V240 has dual airbags but these failed to protect the driver and passenger from injury in our crash tests.”
The three utilities performed poorly in the ANCAP offset crash test – all experienced loss of cabin structural integrity, with poor head and leg protection at impact. There were high injury measurements for driver and passenger in all three vehicles.
For a full list of ANCAP’s vehicle safety ratings, including light commercial vehicles and utilities, and other vehicle safety information, click here.
With ANCAP
