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ANCAP highlights costs and accomplishments of 2015-2016 tests

Just days after calling out the absence of safety ratings in a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission review of the local new-car market, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program has handed down a report on its 2015-2016 achievements.

James Wong

17:4619 October 2016

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During that period, 49 ANCAP safety ratings were published, covering over 250 variants.

Of these 49 ratings, 42 achieved the full five-star rating (86 per cent), five managed four stars (10 per cent), while three- and two-star were awarded to one model each (2 per cent). No vehicles were given a zero-star rating.

These 49 new ratings also covered 29 per cent of new vehicle sales in Australia, meaning more than 310,000 newly-rated five-star vehicles hit the road.

According to ANCAP chair Wendy Machin, the high proportion of top-scoring vehicles on sale in Australia is, at least in part, thanks to the organisation's work in educating buyers on the importance of advanced safety features.

"Cars have never been safer, and as a result, consumer awareness and the expectation of vehicle safety is at an all-time high," Ms Machin said.

ANCAP’s collaboration with Europe's Euro NCAP also allows it to publish twice as many ratings per year.

It’s not a cheap process to produce these ratings, either, with the organisation quoting a total cost of $12.1 million over the 2015-16 period. Some $900,000 of that was incurred by ANCAP, which is partly funded by government. A significant $2.22 million was spent by vehicle brands, and $8.96 million was spent by Euro NCAP.

A full 337 dummies sacrificed themselves over 209 crash tests, with the average ANCAP safety rating costing $336,100.

In these 209 tests, 185 vehicles were destroyed, with their value totalling around $5.6 million.

ANCAP safety ratings now cover 92 per cent of new cars sold in Australia (580,000 vehicles) and New Zealand (66,000 vehicles).

A significant 87 per cent of all vehicles that were sold across Australia and New Zealand over the 2015-16 period hold a full five-star rating, while 8.0 per cent are unrated, 4.0 per cent by four-star cars, and 1.0 per cent of all cars sold hold a rating of three stars or less.

The most improved segment, in terms of vehicles sold with five-star ratings, is light commercial vehicles, with the five-star share increasing from 59 per cent (59,000 vehicles) in 2015 to 81 per cent (89,100 vehicles) in 2016.

Additionally, the share of five-star cars sold in total increased by seven per cent over the last year, from 80 per cent to 87 per cent.

Other figures are as follows: