ANCAP: High five for Chinese brands

THE Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has handed down five-star ratings to the Haval H2 small SUV and LDV T60 pick-up, making them the second and third Chinese vehicles after the MG GS to achieve a maximum safety rating.

Also among the five-star achievers was the Honda CR-V mid-size SUV which managed the highest overall rating of the three.

For LDV, the T60 marks the brand’s best ANCAP result by two stars, after its V80 and G10 vans both managed only three stars when tested in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

The T60 performed strongly in the frontal offset test with a combined score of 14.46 out of 16, recording ‘acceptable’ protection for the driver’s chest and lower right leg, and ‘good’ ratings elsewhere.

Full points were awarded for the side impact and pole tests, while the whiplash test also returned a maximum ‘good’ rating.

The T60 netted an ‘acceptable’ score of 26.64 out 36 for the pedestrian protection test, with mostly ‘acceptable’ protection for adult and child head impacts on the bonnet, while adult leg impacts were mostly rated as ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is not fitted to any T60 variant, but starting next year ANCAP will be revising its grading protocols to place a greater emphasis on rewarding vehicles fitted with driver-assist systems.

LDV importer Ateco Automotive will be breathing a sigh of relief at the news of its rating, after representatives previously told GoAuto that it expected the new ute to gain the maximum five stars.

The Haval H2 was able to acheive what its H9 big sibling could not, by being the first model from the Chinese marque to net a five-star rating.

Achieving an overall score of 34.88 out of 37, the H2 managed 13.88 out of 16 in the frontal offset test, with ‘acceptable’ ratings for the driver’s chest, left leg and right upper leg, and ‘good’ ratings elsewhere.

As with the T60, the H2 netted perfect scores for the side impact and pole tests, with the whiplash protection test also returning a ‘good’ rating.

Pedestrian protection was rated slightly lower than the T60 with 23.79 out of 36, but the ‘acceptable’ rating was deemed the same.

The head impact segment returned generally positive results, while the leg impact section offered mainly ‘good’ protection, with only the upper grille returning poor results.

AEB was not fitted to the tested H2.

Lastly, Honda’s all-new CR-V medium SUV came away with a five-star rating, achieving the highest overall score of the lot with 35.76 out of 37.

‘Good’ protection on all areas bar the driver’s lower left leg (acceptable) meant a frontal offset test score of 14.76 out of 16, while the side impact test, pole test and whiplash test retuned full points.

The pedestrian test resulted in a score of 25.57 out of 36, with mostly ‘acceptable’ head impact results, and a mix of ‘good’ and ‘acceptable’ leg impact scores.

Features such as AEB, adaptive cruise control and lane support system are not available on the base-spec CR-V, however they are standard or optional on higher variants.

ANCAP CEO James Goodwin said the five-star rating achieved by the T60 would make the booming pick-up segment even more competitive.

“This broadens the segment even further with added choice for safety-conscious consumers using their ute for work and weekends,” he said.

“The T60 performed well in our crash tests, although like all light commercial utes currently rated, it lacks autonomous emergency braking.”

He added that occupant protection was the main reason the H2 was able to eclipse the H9’s inferior rating.

“Haval came close with its large SUV, the H9, which scored 4 stars when rated last year but the H2 improves on that rating, reaching 5 stars through increased levels of occupant protection.”