ANCAP boss slams Porsche, Tesla

There’s a conflict brewing between German sports car company Porsche, American EV-maker Tesla and independent vehicle safety authority ANCAP, whose boss has labelled their behaviour “disappointing”.

James Goodwin, chief executive of ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Program), told motoring.com.au he has a number of luxury brands on his hit-list.

Around 95 per cent of the ever-expanding new-vehicle fleet in Australia has been tested by ANCAP, but there are still a few hold-outs and Goodwin argues it’s a moral imperative for car-maker to respect their customers and crash test their cars.

“We’re talking about a range of brands,” he said.

“They’re not necessarily the cheaper brands; where’s Tesla on this? Where’s Porsche on this?”

While the focus appears to be on Porsche and Tesla at present, there are bound to be other luxury and sports car brands that ANCAP is homing in on.

Goodwin wasn’t shy in his disdain of a “handful” of car brands in Australia that choose not to supply vehicles and data for crash testing, and believes it’s disingenuous to avoid ANCAP or Euro NCAP testing.

He argues that that there are still car brands that “…don’t necessarily support the ANCAP program by even conducting testing, let alone using an ANCAP logo”.

“I’ve got an email in front of me from a major luxury brand saying that they’re not in favour of promoting [ANCAP] star ratings and so are not going to assist us with information,” he revealed.

“That’s an appalling attitude. It’s not your choice. If you don’t want to help us by supplying vehicles, well, what’s the option now?

“It’s disappointing but it’s worse than that. It’s a lack of respect for their customers and a lack of respect for the community,” said Goodwin.

“Sending me a note like that means that I will find the money and I will smash your cars,” he declared.

Tesla snaffled a five-star NCAP safety rating for its Model S back in 2014 but no other vehicles, including the Tesla Model X family SUV, have been tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP, the authority’s sister organization in Europe.

As for Porsche, only two models have been tested according to the Euro NCAP database, the Cayenne SUV in 2017 (five stars) and Macan SUV in 2014 (five stars).

ANCAP signaled its intention to test more sports cars in the wake of the three-star result for the Ford Mustang.

Both Porsche and Tesla were contacted for comment but are yet to respond.