ANCAP urges Ford to crash test Mustang

Update - July 25, 2016: After nearly a week Ford finally came back to us on Monday morning with this response. We'll let you judge if it was worth the wait:

"Safety continues to be one of the highest priorities in the design of our vehicles. With regard to NCAPs in Australia and Europe, Ford is working cooperatively with regulatory groups, however, at this time, we cannot provide details on timing of a rating for Mustang."

Does the new Ford Mustang offer five-star safety?

That’s the question independent crash-test authority ANCAP wants Ford Australia’s help answering.

But if Ford declines ANCAP's request for co-operation, the local crash safety authority could go it alone and conduct the crash tests anyway – if it can actually find any Mustangs to buy.

The iconic US-built coupe and convertible is the highest selling vehicle in Australia today without an Australasian New Car Assessment Programme crash-test rating, and it's a bigger seller than some that do, including the locally-built Ford Falcon.

"The Mustang is the most popular unrated vehicle in the market at the moment," confirmed ANCAP Chief Executive Officer James Goodwin.

"So we have certainly spoken to Ford about that and how we may get a rating for it.

"It's not been resolved yet, but we are in those discussions, because it is certainly flagging with us because it is selling in high numbers.

"We need to be providing a rating to the consumer."

The V8 GT coupe is also a candidate to join Australian police highway patrol ranks as various state forces roll over from the locally-built Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, and an ANCAP rating could play a role in the decision-making process there too.

"It would be difficult for them to have a highway patrol car that doesn't have an ANCAP rating," Goodwin said.

Ford Australia has been approached for its views on this matter but has yet to provide a response.

Goodwin described the Mustang as an "anomaly".

"Low-volume, special kinds of cars are not usually on our list because they are expensive and low volume and all that sort of stuff," he said.

"But the Mustang has become a bit of an anomaly in that it might be a specialist and enthusiast type of car, but it is selling in such numbers that it really is a bit of a flag to us."

Launched last January in Australia, the Mustang has proved a sell-out success. That in itself is a challenge for ANCAP as getting hold of cars to conduct a full test would mean the sacrifice of guaranteed sales for Ford, or a substantial investment by ANCAP.

Some crash tests conducted by ANCAP are at a manufacturers' request and cost while ANCAP does sometimes buy cars it specifically wants to test.

Alternatively, the Mustang may be on the testing schedule of another of the global NCAP bodies. That may then provide ANCAP with the data it needs to issue a star rating without crashing cars locally.

Alternatively, other NCAP bodies such as Euro NCAP may be interested in backing an ANCAP test, because the Mustang has proved a sales success in Europe too.

"That's the sort of thing that we are working on," said Goodwin.

"Obviously getting stock would be difficult; if the brand doesn't want to co-operate we will do things ourselves.

"That is a costly exercise and we don't want to waste any money. With a model like that getting stock would be difficult anyway.

"We are still working on it."

As recently reported, the Mustang was tested by the US equivalent of ANCAP, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, and missed out on a 'Top Safety Pick' because it underperformed in what's called the 'small overlap test'.

Goodwin said the IIHS test results could not be adapted for ANCAP use but the data that came from it would be examined.

If ANCAP does end up crashing the Mustang it would almost certainly go with the 2.3-litre four-cylinder coupe base model, Goodwin said.

"We normally try and do the base model because that makes it easier for us to assess the variants.

"Anything above the base model you are assuming it's going to get better in terms of safety equipment it has onboard.

"So we generally go for the base model and then ask Ford, for instance, for in-house data."

This is not the only issue Ford's performance models have had with ANCAP recently. The new Focus RS does not have a maximum five-star rating – unlike the rest of the small-car range - because it is sold in Australia with hard-shell Recaro seats that cannot fit front-side airbags.

Ford Australia has not provided data to prove the car can achieve five stars without those airbags, so the ANCAP site makes it specifically clear the RS is unrated.