Independent vehicle safety authority, ANCAP, has released its latest round of ratings, highlighting strong safety performance across a range of brands and vehicle types.
The Ford Focus, Hyundai Santa Fe, Genesis G70 and Jaguar I-PACE have all been awarded 5 stars.
“Brands have responded to a far more stringent test regime, further increasing the standard consumers expect when it comes to safety, with all 2018 ratings meeting 5 stars,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, James Goodwin.
The new Ford Focus scored well, with Child Occupant Protection standing out as its strongest area of performance.
“The Focus scored maximum points in destructive Child Occupant Protection testing and is equipped with both forward and reverse auto braking,” Mr Goodwin said.
The electric-powered Jaguar I-PACE performed well, scoring 5 stars for all variants.
“The I-PACE is one of only a few models to offer an external airbag, which is designed to provide increased protection to pedestrians.”
An innovative new child occupant detection feature has been incorporated into the new generation Hyundai Santa Fe, alerting the driver when leaving the car if a rear seat occupant is detected to reduce the chance of a baby or young child being left in an unattended vehicle.
“It is encouraging to see vehicle brands incorporate innovative new safety features,” Mr Goodwin said.
“Engineers identified two issues with the deployment of the curtain airbag in Santa Fe models fitted with a panoramic roof, with the airbag tearing and a portion of the airbag being caught on the upper belt anchorage. Penalties were applied to scoring of the side impact and oblique pole tests to reflect the increased head injury risk.”
“ANCAP notified the Australian vehicle standards regulator of the issue, resulting in a national recall to remedy models already in service. A production change has been implemented by Hyundai for new models.”
“The seven-seat SUV also lacks top tether anchorages for third-row seating positions, leaving the third row unable to install child restraints and carry young children.”
The luxury medium car segment received a boost with a further 5-star performer in the Genesis G70.
“The Genesis G70 is fitted with a well-performing lane support system, with a good performance recorded across testing, including some of the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios,” said Mr Goodwin.
Five-star ANCAP safety ratings apply to all variants of Ford Focus (from December 2018), Hyundai Santa Fe (from July 2018), Genesis G70 (from 2018) and I-PACE (from December 2018). Full Reports:
- TECHNICAL REPORT – Ford Focus
- TECHNICAL REPORT – Genesis G70
- TECHNICAL REPORT – Hyundai Santa Fe
- TECHNICAL REPORT – Jaguar I-PACE
