New Kia Stonic gets ‘old’ safety rating
Light SUV awarded 2017 ANCAP five-star rating shared with Kia Rio city hatchThe new 2021 Kia Stonic has been awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating based on the 2017 crash test of the Kia Rio.
The Stonic’s result was published without fanfare or a media release last Friday on the ANCAP website.
The result means Kia Australia will be able to promote a five-star ANCAP result for its new light SUV, something its safety equipment suggests it would not have achieved if crash-tested to the 2021 standard.
The Kia Stonic is not fitted with the centre airbag that is now a requirement for five ANCAP stars.
The Stonic shares its fundamental architecture with the Kia Rio light hatch, which ANCAP claims enables the scores to be shared.
However, the five-star result is only awarded to Kia Stonic models with the 1.4-litre engine. The flagship GT-Line with a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine is not as yet covered by the five-star rating.
The five-star result is based on testing by ANCAP of a 1.4-litre Kia Rio S originally published in September 2017.
In a response to questions from carsales, ANCAP explained in an emailed statement that its protocols allowed the extension of a rating to additional variants after the time of initial rating.
“The Kia Stonic is a variant of, and approved under the same Identification Plate Approval, as the Kia Rio (Kia YB), and hence the Stonic has been included under the existing YB (Rio) rating,” ANCAP explained.
“Technical evidence from Kia was supplied to ANCAP to substantiate the validity of this extension, which has been applied to 1.4-litre Stonic variants.
“The rating of partner models is also part of our established protocols and very common (eg. Toyota HiAce/Granvia, Ford Ranger/Everest, Audi A4/A5, BMW X3/X4, Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86, etc).”
The 2017 date stamp of the test was important for consumers and fleet buyers to consider, ANCAP said.
“The YB Rio/Stonic rating is an older (2017) five-star rating, and consumers should be mindful of this when looking to buy their next vehicle,” the safety authority added.
Look out for the first local drive of the new Kia Stonic by carsales this Friday, January 22.
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