2022 Kia EV6 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class earn five-star ANCAP safety ratings

The 2022 Kia EV6 electric SUV and Mercedes-Benz C-Class petrol sedan have earned full five-star ratings from regional independent safety body, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

Tested under the latest 2020-2022 protocols, the EV6 and C-Class performed well in most or all areas of assessment, across the four test categories: Adult Occupant Orotection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection (pedestrians/cyclists) and Safety Assist technology.

ANCAP praised the Kia EV6 for full points for the driver in side impact and oblique pole tests, plus for children in the frontal offset test – but recorded "marginal" performance for the driver’s chest and lower leg in the same frontal test.

A score of 64 per cent was awarded for the EV6 in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category – compared to circa-90 per cent scores in other areas – due to "adequate to marginal protection to the head of a struck pedestrian ... with weak and poor results recorded at the base of the
windscreen and on the stiff windscreen pillars".

Meanwhile, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class earned maximum points for the driver and rear passenger (female dummies) in the full-width frontal offset test – the first vehicle to do so under the latest 2020-2022 test criteria.

"Good" performance was also recorded in all car-to-car autonomous emergency braking test scenarios, but adequate performance when testing AEB with pedestrians. ANCAP noted marginal protection for the head of the 10-year-old dummy in the side-impact crash test.

“The Kia EV6 is equipped with the range of collision avoidance systems we’ve come to expect in today’s five star cars, and it performed particularly well for its ability to prevent collisions with cyclists, and oncoming vehicles in avoidance tests simulating intersection turns,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

Speaking about the Mercedes-Benz's result, Ms Hoorweg added: “The C-Class is the first Mercedes-Benz model to be tested against ANCAP’s 2020-2022 protocols, and it has not disappointed.”

ANCAP has also awarded a five-star safety rating to the new Volkswagen Multivan plug-in hybrid people mover, which is now on sale in New Zealand – but is yet to be confirmed for Australia.