MEDIA RELEASE
Embargo 6am, 4 December 2008
A MIXED BAG IN CHRISTMAS NEW CAR SAFETY RATINGS
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program, Australia’s independent vehicle safety
testing body, today released safety ratings for a range of new cars and utilities expressing
disappointment that only one of these achieved 5-stars.
The Holden Commodore Omega sedan achieved a 5-star rating but other Commodore
models will not become eligible for the 5-star rating until Holden incorporates a passenger
seat-belt reminder warning in their other variants throughout 2009.
The Ford Falcon Ute and Honda Jazz achieved a 4-star rating, while the Nissan Micra car,
Nissan Navara D22 4WD and the Isuzu D-Max Utility 2WD and 4WD models have received
a 3-star rating.
ANCAP Chair, Lauchlan McIntosh, congratulated Holden on joining the Ford Falcon XT in
achieving the 5-star milestone for an Australian-made car. He went on to say that the 3-star
ratings for the Micra, Navara and D-Max were very disappointing, given the increasing
number of 4 and 5-star vehicles available.
“ANCAP does not consider a 3-star rating to be good enough for consumers
- new car
buyers should expect good safety ratings as much as performance, and there is a wide
range of 4 and 5-star safety rated vehicles on the Australian market today,” Mr McIntosh
said.
“There was an issue with the lack of a front passenger seat belt reminder on the
Commodore, but Holden has undertaken to incorporate these reminders into their
production processes through 2009 to ensure other Commodore variants offer the same
levels of protection. We encourage new car buyers of the variants to make sure these
reminders are available when they make their purchase, he said”
“Regrettably road crash fatality figures show that many drivers and passengers are failing to
buckle up and are suffering the consequences.”
Mr McIntosh said the 4-star Honda Jazz base model with dual airbags performed well in
crash tests but the 6-airbag variants were not eligible for 5 stars because they did not have
Electronic Stability Control, (ESC), a proven life saving technology readily available in many
new cars.
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Similarly, while the Ford Ute performed well in crash tests and Electronic Stability Control is
now available, Ford did not elect to submit the Ute for the optional side pole test, to be able
to demonstrate 5-star performance.
“ANCAP is still waiting for the breakthrough of a 5-star commercial vehicle so that trades
people, couriers and other such vehicle users can have the same level of safety as
company executives,” Mr McIntosh said.
“Unfortunately pedestrians do not fare well in the latest round of results with the
Commodore, the Navara and D-Max 4x4 utility earning 1 star for pedestrian protection, the
Falcon Ute and Micra 2 stars and the Honda Jazz 3 stars out of a possible 4. These results
are disappointing."
ANCAP crash tests new vehicles, awards them a star rating for safety and publicises the
results to the motoring public.
ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand
motoring clubs, Australian state governments, the New Zealand government, the Victorian
Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.
For a full list of ANCAP’s vehicle safety ratings and other vehicle safety information, go to
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Contact:
Lauchlan McIntosh
ANCAP Chair
0418 424 886
Allan Yates
ANCAP
0421 150 229
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