Mazda 'working' on five-star MX-5

Having declared back in December that it would subject the latest MX-5 to an ANCAP crash test within weeks in search of a five-star rating, Mazda Australia now appears to be cooling on the idea.

Instead it has been confirmed it is in negotiation with ANCAP about gaining a five-star result without going through the expense of actually smacking a car into a wall.

Mazda’s plan to test the new ND MX-5 locally gained momentum after the car was awarded four stars under the Euro NCAP crash regime last October.

The belief within Mazda is ANCAP’s criteria would enable the MX-5 to amass the maximum five stars, whereas it missed out under Euro NCAP despite scoring high crash scores because it wasn’t equipped with the latest crash avoidance technology as standard, most notably autonomous emergency braking.

“The raw crash numbers (of the MX-5) are sensationally good,” Mazda Australia sales director Alastair Doak told motoring.com.au at this week’s MX-5 RF launch in New York this week.

“We might crash the car and see what we get because we have different rules. We might see how we go.”

But that’s far less definitive than what he said back in December.

The impetus to subject the MX-5 to a test appears to be waning because of the cost. The new second-generation CX-9 will likely go through the expense of the ANCAP crash test process later in the year and the fact is the ND is selling better than any MX-5 ever.

“It’s an expensive investment so we will have a look,” said Doak. “We have spent a bit on crash-testing CX-3 and Mazda2 locally and we will probably do the CX-9 given that it doesn’t have a Euro rating because it is not going to be sold there.

“That’s a priority maybe more than MX-5 given MX-5 already has a Euro NCAP rating and we see the CX-9 as a much more family-focused vehicle and safety sits higher up in the buying decision.”

ANCAP CEO James Goodwin confirmed he was aware of the issue with the MX-5 and had been in consultation with Mazda about it.

“It appears the vehicle could technically be eligible for a five-star ANCAP rating under the current testing protocol as it would have sufficient Safety Assist Technologies (SATs).” Goodwin told motoring.com.au.

“However, we don’t speculate on the result ahead of testing and I would also urge all manufacturers to be careful about spruiking a potential rating as well.

“We are currently working with Mazda to determine a safety rating for the vehicle.”

Doak admitted that crash-testing the MX-5 to prove a point about star ratings might not be worthwhile considering the car posted high crash scores in Euro NCAP.

“That’s one of the discussions points that will dictate whether we decide to do it,” he said.

“These processes are always complicated. We certainly haven’t ruled it out, so we will see, but CX-9 would certainly take priority over anything else.”

There’s no doubt the difference in crash test criteria between ANCAP and Euro NCAP has frustrated car companies. And while they merge again in 2018 Doak made the point it will still cause confusion for buyers until then.

“If the two standards diverge then it becomes more of a necessity. We would prefer to have one global standard, but if that is not the case then we would look at it to make sure the messaging is as relevant as possible to the Australian consumer.”

Responded Goodwin: “ANCAP is in a transition period and has agreed to fully align testing protocols with Euro NCAP in 2018.  This new global protocol will cover Australasia, Europe and then Asia and will aim to avoid differences in the specifications of vehicles in different markets and therefore before ratings.”