ANCAP awards five stars for Mazda2 and CX-3

Mazda has hit the jackpot, with two of its volume-selling cars scoring five-star results in the latest round of crash safety testing by ANCAP (the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme).

Both the Mazda2 and the CX-3 were commended by the local safety authority for occupant and pedestrian protection. The Mazdas also offer autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as an option, a point that ANCAP noted and praised in its press release issued overnight. ANCAP has made AEB a cause celebre in recent times, making the observation on more than one occasion that the high-tech safety feature has real potential to save lives on the road.

"It is great to see AEB becoming more common in the Australian new car market, but we would like to see AEB as a standard feature in new vehicles, rather than as an optional extra" said ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke.

"International studies have shown the effectiveness of AEB systems in preventing real world crashes may be higher than 50 per cent. The introduction of more advanced AEB systems – which work at a range of speeds, and which are able to detect other obstacles such as pedestrians and cyclists – will contribute to a further reduction in the number and severity of road crashes."

Mazda naturally welcomed the result, which saw the CX-3 accrue 36.44 points out of a possible 37. The Mazda2 followed closely, finishing on 36.35 points.

With its four-star rating, the Audi TT joins BMW's 2 Series Active Tourer and MINI five-door hatch in failing to achieve the top marks.

"Although the TT performed well in numerous areas for adult occupants and pedestrian protection, insufficient Safety Assist Technologies and inadequate child occupant protection - caused the TTs overall rating to be limited to four stars," Clarke was quoted as saying in the ANCAP press release.