Chinese ute scores five-star safety

LDV’s new T60 is the first Chinese ute to score a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

On sale in Australia from this month, the LDV T60 ute and Haval’s H2 compact SUV join the MG GS — the first Chinese car to gain top safety marks from the independent crash safety body, in September — in attaining a maximum ANCAP safety rating.

The T60 scored 34.88 points out of 37, while the H2 scored 35.46 and the Honda CR-V – the third new model tested by ANCAP most recently – scored 35.76.

ANCAP CEO James Goodwin praised the T60 4x4 twin-cab ute’s safety rating, which shames those of other Chinese utes like the two-star Great Wall Steed and three-star Foton Tunland, as well as India’s four-star Tata Xenon and three-star Mahindra Pik-Up.

But he also pointed out that, although it matches the ANCAP safety rating of Australia’s most popular ute models like Toyota’s HiLux and Ford’s Everest, none of these models are yet fitted with autonomous emergency barking.

The potentially life-saving safety rating will become a prerequisite for a five-star rating from 2018, when ANCAP adopts Euro NCAP’s scoring regime.

“The LDV T60 dual-cab enters the Australasian market this week with the five-star rating it needs to gain sales traction in the highly competitive utility segment,” said Goodwin.

“This broadens the segment even further with added choice for safety-conscious consumers using their ute for work and weekends.

“The T60 performed well in our crash tests, although like all light commercial utes currently rated, it lacks autonomous emergency braking.”

LDV Automotive Australia general manager Dinesh Chinnappa said he was not surprised by the top safety rating for the T60 dual-cab, which is priced from $28,990 drive-away for ABN holders.

“We are extremely pleased that the LDV T60 double-cab ute has achieved this result, but not surprised,” he said.

“From the moment the idea of the T60 was conceived LDV set itself the goal of meeting the gold standard of safety, the ANCAP five-star rating, and it has single mindedly perused this result.

“The five-star rating opens the door to new fleet and government opportunities for LDV as we are able to offer the T60 as a vehicle with exceptional value for money and it has the five-star ANCAP rating that they insist is the minimum standard for their purchases,” said Chinnappa.

Goodwin also praised the Haval H2 after it become the first five-star model from the Chinese luxury SUV brand.

“Haval came close with its large SUV, the H9, which scored four stars when rated last year but the H2 improves on that rating, reaching five stars through increased levels of occupant protection,” he said.

The third five-star ANCAP safety announced this morning applies to Honda’s new CR-V, the first seven-seat version of which has just been released.

“Customers who have bought or are considering the Honda CR-V which launched earlier this year can be assured of a high level of safety with low injury readings recorded in all physical crash tests,” said Goodwin.

The five-star ratings apply to all Australian versions of the latest Honda CR-V (launched in July 2017), Haval H2 (October 2015) and LDV T60 (this month).