Shock ANCAP ratings in latest testing

ANCAP has applauded Mitsubishi's Triton pick-up for achieving five stars in a crash safety evaluation conducted recently in Australia.

But the safety testing authority rated the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and MINI Cooper just four stars.

Other vehicles tested during the same period turned up five-star scores, including BMW's i3, which was previously rated four-star safe in 2013 by ANCAP's European counterpart, Euro NCAP. The other five-star vehicles were the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Renault Captur and the Tesla Model S. All vehicles other than the Triton were tested by Euro NCAP, with ANCAP basing its own rating for each respective vehicle on data supplied from Europe.

Euro NCAP had previously reported the MINI Cooper hatch was a four-star car, so ANCAP's rating came as no particular surprise, especially given the local body's move to align with Euro NCAP beginning from this year.

The five-star accolade for the Triton applies to all variants, according to ANCAP CEO, Nicholas Clarke.

"In terms of safety, LCVs continue to lag passenger vehicles with 57 per cent of LCVs sold holding the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating.  In comparison, 90 per cent of new passenger vehicles sold are 5 star rated," Clarke was quoted saying in a press release.

"This five-star rating for the high-selling Triton is a great achievement as this will translate to increased safety on worksites and on our roads."

According to ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme), the failure of the BMW and the MINI to achieve five stars was due to weaknesses manifested during side-impact and frontal-offset crash tests. Both cars are built on BMW's latest UKL front-wheel drive platform.