Local crash safety authority ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) has added three new models to its database of vehicles tested for occupant protection.
Appealing to very different target buyers, the three cars – Toyota's 86, Land Rover's new-generation Range Rover and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class – have all achieved the maximum five-star rating. This prompted ANCAP Chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh to offer his view that there's now almost no excuse for consumers to buy anything less than the safest – no matter what sort of vehicle the consumer needs.
"It doesn't matter what type of car consumers are looking to buy. There's now a multitude of makes, models and car types which have achieved the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating," he was quoted saying in a press release. "The range of cars we've released ratings for today exemplifies this."
None of the three were physically crash-tested by ANCAP. The Range Rover and A-Class were tested late last year by Euro NCAP. Data taken from these two tests were used to extrapolate an ANCAP rating for the two vehicles. ANCAP did test the badge-engineered Subaru BRZ, and acknowledged that the almost identical Toyota 86 would be equally safe in the event of a major collision.
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