Five-star ANCAP ratings for Mazda CX-8, Volvo XC40

The 2018 Mazda CX-8 and 2018 Volvo XC40 have both been awarded top safety marks under a more stringent 2018 testing regime by Australia’s chief crash assessment body.

In line with its Euro NCAP affiliate, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program’s (ANCAP) criteria now includes testing a vehicle's ability to avoid an accident through active driver aids, as well as protecting a wider range of occupants inside the vehicle including children and females.

“The hurdles have been raised significantly for vehicles tested from 2018,” said ANCAP boss James Goodwin, who added the expanded parameters are also designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists.

Tested in Australia under new protocols billed as the “toughest to date”, the CX-8 scored 96 per cent in adult occupant protection, 87 per cent in child occupant protection, 73 per cent for safety assist and 72 per cent for vulnerable road user protection.

“Good levels of performance were achieved by the CX-8 in the area of Child Occupant Protection, with our assessment engineers praising its ability to safely accommodate child restraints in all five rear seating positions,” Goodwin said.

Meantime, all-wheel drive variants of the XC40 scored 97 per cent for adult occupant protection, 84 per cent for child occupant protection, 78 per cent in safety assistance and 71 per cent for vulnerable road user protection.

Unlike the CX-8, which underwent a local crash test, the XC40 testing was carried out by Euro NCAP, and included assessment of its cyclist detection function, night time pedestrian detection and lane-keep assist.

“The XC40 performed well across all areas of assessment, offering emergency lane keeping functionality and the full range of autonomous emergency braking systems,” said Goodwin.

“It’s encouraging to see Mazda and Volvo set the standard, with their CX-8 and XC40 models being the first to step up and achieve 5 stars against our increased test standards.”