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ANCAP’s latest subjects pass with flying colours, glass and metal.

 

Hyundai’s new Elantra mid-size sedan and Kia’s micro car the Picanto have been put through ANCAP’s ruthless and unscrupulous crash test regime, and passed with five stars.

While both cars are praised for putting safety ahead of showroom pricetags, there is still room for improvement.

“The Elantra performed well in crash testing and is another sound addition to Hyundai’s fleet which sits well with its competitors in the small passenger vehicle market,” ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Mr James Goodwin, said. “Advanced safety assist technologies are unfortunately lacking on the Elantra, and Hyundai – along with other manufacturers – should step up and include technologies such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) on all models,” he said.

Pedestrian protection on the Elantra resulted as ‘Acceptable’, revealing the base of the windscreen as an area for safety design improvement.

The 5 star ANCAP safety rating was also given to the new Kia Picanto, available in New Zealand for several years. Its pedestrian protection rating was considered ‘Marginal’, but interestingly comes with knee airbags on Kiwi variants, but not Australian models.

“The Kia reinforces that safety should not be restricted by budget with the Picanto providing an affordable 5 star vehicle choice,” said Mr Goodwin. The Picanto scored 34.26 out of 37 in testing, and the Elantra scored 35.01 out of 37 respectively.

ANCAP crash testing is done in here, to avoid it out there.

ANCAP crash testing is done in here, to avoid it out there.