Five safety stars for Subaru XV and Holden Astra sedan

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Subaru’s new XV crossover and Holden’s new Astra sedan – based on the second-generation Cruze – have scored a maximum five-star safety rating following the latest round of ANCAP testing.

The five-star rating for the Japanese-built Subaru XV, which achieved a ‘Good’ pedestrian protection rating and a ‘Good’ rating for whiplash protection, applies to all variants -- despite the fact autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is fitted as standard only on the three higher XV variants and remains unavailable on the base version.

No versions of the Astra sedan, based on the Korean-made replacement for Holden’s Australian-made original Cruze, are fitted with AEB. ANCAP deemed the pedestrian protection rating for the Astra sedan to be ‘Acceptable’ and its whiplash rating ‘Good’.

“It is disappointing autonomous emergency braking is not available across the board on two new models and we continue to encourage consumers to ask for, and brands to offer, this potentially life-saving technology,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, James Goodwin.

“As our requirements become more stringent next year, it will not be possible for new models to achieve a five-star ANCAP safety rating without an effective AEB system fitted as standard.”

As we’ve reported, Holden’s new European-built Astra hatch – released here last December – is now available with an optional safety pack including AEB, but the base Astra R variant remains unrated by ANCAP.

Further confusing the ANCAP safety rating system for consumers, a five-star rating only applies to more expensive Astra RS and RS-V models due to an anomaly in the procedure for sourcing local ANCAP safety ratings from its European crash testing affiliate (Euro NCAP).

Pricing for the new XV was announced earlier this month ahead of its official release on June 23, and we drove the Astra sedan in January before it goes on sale on June 13.