Suzuki Jimny gets sub-par safety rating

The highly-anticipated Suzuki Jimny compact 4x4 "…misses the mark with structural and design weaknesses".

Those are the words of James Goodwin, chief executive of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), the country's chief crash testing authority.

Goodwin has criticised elements of the cult off-roader's safety in the wake of its three-star rating, confirmed this week.

When the new Jimny goes on sale from Australia Day, 2019, it will be fitted as standard with six airbags, autonomous emergency braking, a reversing camera and a lane departure warning system. But as Goodwin observed, the Jimny's fundamental safety structure is not up to scratch.

"The results show that the fundamentals of vehicle safety are still critical, and simply fitting an AEB system is not enough to earn a good rating.

"While marketed for off-road driving, these vehicles also spend much of their time on regular roads and buyers shouldn't have to forego safety," Goodwin stated.

As well as a "…number of issues in the frontal offset test including excessive deformation of the passenger compartment, with penalties applied for loss of structural integrity," Goodwin observed the all-new Suzuki Jimny displayed poor driver airbag inflation.

In the crash testing that was conducted by ANCAP's sister organisation, Euro NCAP, it was found that the dummy's head "hit the steering wheel through the airbag".

The Suzuki's AEB system was 'limited' according to ANCAP, with no cyclist detection or night time capability.

Despite the scathing crash report, Suzuki Australia believes the new Jimny is a safe vehicle and, like the Ford Mustang, a poor safety score won't affect its showroom popularity.

"I'm fairly confident that based on the three-star safety rating on a car that’s this capable with this kind of design, I actually think that's a good rating in regards to what it can achieve off road and what it's built for in terms of its purpose," the general manager of Suzuki Automotive Australia, Michael Pachota, told carsales.com.au.

"It's very safe. I don’t think [the ANACP score] will affect sales whatsoever."

Car brands including Kia have in the past re-engineered vehicles to lift a four-star ANCAP safety rating to maximum five-stars, in order to maintain a safe reputation and increase sales appeal.

Pachota confirmed that Suzuki has taken the low score on board.

"I know that Suzuki in Japan, once they got the rating, they looked at what was picked up and they are evaluating what they're going to do for future models."

However, the Suzuki Australia boss said the Jimny was unlikely to be revamped to improve occupant safety.

"At this stage the vehicle is being released as it is, and I think it’s a perfect offering for the buyer type and based on pre-orders we could be sold out by April," said Pachota.

Another shock result for an iconic 4x4 was the recent testing of the Jeep Wrangler. In Euro ANCAP testing from December 2018, it was awarded a one-star safety rating – however European models don't feature AEB as standard, something that is likely for Aussie Wrangler vehicles.

Pachota insisted that safety is not viewed as a secondary issue for hardcore off-road vehicles.

"At the moment we haven’t come into any sort of hurdle with the safety rating. I'm not sure what Jeep's position is. In my opinion safety is a very important thing, Suzuki believes safety is a crucial element for all cars," he said.

"But I think with the gear this car has, it's fairly capable to avoid or prevent accidents especially having AEB and the safety technology it has. On and off-road I think it's a very safe and fantastic little offering."