5
NEWS
Five ANCAP stars for VW up! and Aussie Opels
Volkswagen up! micro scores five-star ANCAP safety rating, despite no rear airbagsVolkswagen’s new up! city-car and Opel’s new Astra hatch and GTC coupe have been awarded a five-star safety rating by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) – the same maximum crash performance score they attracted from Euro NCAP last year.
ANCAP also praised VW’s smallest model – which went on sale this month priced from $13,990 – for its inclusion of life-saving crash avoidance technology as standard, including the City Emergency Braking system, which can automatically brake the vehicle to avoid collisions at speeds between 5 and 30km/h.
The four-seater up! also comes standard with ESP electronic stability control, ABS brakes with brake assist and a hill-holder, and four seatbelt reminders.
However, like Renault’s upcoming Clio, which has also received a five-star Euro NCAP rating, it comes with just four airbags that protect the front and sides of front passengers, but do not protect rear passengers.
A number of light-sized cars offer at least six airbags – including twin front, front-side and full-length side curtain airbags – such as the Toyota Yaris, Mazda2, Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina, Honda Jazz and Nissan Micra, some of which also come with a driver’s knee airbag.
ANCAP said autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems like the one in the up! should no longer be reserved for premium models and are currently being considered by ANCAP as a mandatory safety requirement.
It said the fast adoption of new technologies like AEB, which employs a combination of lasers, radar and cameras to detect an imminent collision and can automatically apply the brakes of a vehicle, could see the road toll halved by 2020.
“ANCAP is pleased to see that the up! provides advanced safety features as standard and offers other occupant comforts such as Bluetooth as optional extras,” said ANCAP Chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh.
“It is hard to fathom why features that protect vehicle occupants are sold as optional extras by most manufacturers yet alloy wheels and leather seats, for instance, come as standard. The move by Volkswagen to include AEB in the up! as standard across all variants is a welcome change.
“The standard fitment of safety features and safety technologies is something ANCAP has been advocating for some time and all manufacturers should follow Volkswagen’s lead.”
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