ANCAP upgrades Suzuki Swift’s one-star rating 

ANCAP has walked back the Suzuki Swift’s controversial one-star safety rating and bumped it up to three stars, citing a range of incremental updates to the structure and restraints of the popular compact hatch. The best-selling MG3 meantime has been re-tested and awarded four stars. 

The 2025 MG3 and 2025 Suzuki Swift have each received amended ANCAP safety scores – gaining an extra star each – following uncharacteristic “re-testing” by the independent safety body.  

Adding to the increasingly confusing state of ANCAP safety scores, the Swift’s rating has been increased from one star to three, with no apparent spec changes. 

“We’re adopting the Euro [NCAP] score,” an ANCAP spokesperson told carsales.  

According to the organisation, the Suzuki Swift launched in Australia and New Zealand last year carried a lower level of safety specification than the European version, resulting in a one-star rating, while European NCAP awarded it a three-star rating overseas.

The local Swift’s rating has now been lifted to three stars, due to locally supplied versions now supposedly aligning with their European counterparts – according to ANCAP – but Suzuki Australia is yet to confirm as much. 

In terms of a score breakdown, the Swift gained extra points in three of four key assessment areas, with its adult occupant protection score growing to 67 per cent (from 47%), child occupant protection to 65 per cent (from 59%) and safety assists boosted from 54 to 55 per cent. 

Meanwhile, MG has made a significant investment in the MG3, with the introduction of a driver monitoring system, front centre airbag and ‘improved’ collision avoidance capability for vehicles on sale as of May 2025.  

The changes were enough to warrant a re-test, with the fresh round of testing said to have improved the hatchback’s adult occupant protection, vulnerable road user protection and safety assist scores.

That said, a worrying mechanical failure raised concerns.  

According to testers, the right-side adjuster of the driver’s seat twisted on impact during the frontal offset crash test, prompting build quality concerns. 

“This uplift from three stars to four stars is a step in the right direction, yet the seat latch failure is not something we expect to see and is cause for caution,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said. 

“The failure of the seat adjuster increased the risk of injury to the driver. Key vehicle components like this should be able to withstand this typical urban-environment crash.  

“We expect MG to make a running change to rectify the fault and move to retrospectively fix affected vehicles already in the market.” 

Strangely, current protocols mean no penalties were applied to the MG3 for the seat latch failure. 

ANCAP says from August 2025, locally supplied versions of the Suzuki Swift “align with those sold in Europe” – hence the adoption of a the higher three-star NCAP safety rating – despite it being unclear what exactly has changed between the original local models and those sold in Europe. 

We’ve reached out to Suzuki Australia to clarify what safety and/or tech updates have been made to the Swift, if any.