news

Citroen C5 Aircross falls short with ANCAP, Mercedes and Peugeot achieve five stars

The recently-released Citroen C5 Aircross SUV has scored four stars out of five in the latest round of ANCAP results, due to a missing piece of semi-autonomous safety technology.


Aimed at the Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 in the hotly-contested mid-sized SUV space, the C5 Aircross's four-star safety rating is down to a 'marginal' result in 'vulnerable road user' (cyclist and pedestrian) protection.

Although it gets autonomous emergency braking, the C5 Aircross offered locally lacks cyclist detection. Euro NCAP has given models with the more advanced autonomous emergency braking setup top marks, but it's currently not available to Australian buyers.

There are no structural differences between five- and four-star C5 Aircross models: the entire range scored 87 per cent for adult occupant protection and 88 per cent for child occupant protection.

"Pedestrian and cyclist detection AEB is currently not available for the Australian market. Should it become available, we would investigate adding it to the line-up," a Citroen spokesperson told CarAdvice. 

"That said, the only difference between the four-star and the five-star car is that technology."

It's not all bad news for the French, however, with the new Peugeot 508 scoring top marks in the latest round of testing. The new Fastback and Sportwagon achieved 96 per cent for adult occupant protection, and ANCAP lauded its performance in "more critical emergency lane-keeping scenarios".

Mercedes-Benz also achieved top marks for its new CLA and B-Class.

"The CLA achieved full points in a number of tests, including full points for the protection offered to adult passengers seated in the rear showing that safety is being prioritised for all seating positions," said James Goodwin, ANCAP chief executive.

"The B-Class is capable of detecting and reacting to vulnerable road users including pedestrians and cyclists, and high scores were seen for its crash avoidance capabilities and physical crash protection."

Finally, Ford has boosted the safety spec of the new Focus. Already a five-star car, the Golf-rivalling hatchback and wagon have gained tweaked front seats and head restraints.

Although it sounds like a small change, the update improves the Focus's score in Adult Occupant Protection from 85 per cent to 96 per cent.

Chat with us!







Chat with Agent