New safety regulations from A-NCAP
The Australian arm of the New Car Assessment Program used to determine safety rating for newly introduced models has announced revised ratings for 4×4 vehicles, including the Toyota Land Cruiser, Mitsubishi Pajero and Foton Tunland.
Toyota gets 5 stars
All variants of the 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series now hold the maximum 5 start ANCAP safety rating, following the latest addition of dual knee airbags as standard across the range, which is sold as such to the South African market.
(See Toyota Land Cruiser 200 specifications here).
Pajero gets 5 stars
Mitsubishi’s Pajero units built from April this year will hold a 5 star ANCAP rating as well, following safety upgrades made to the production line that reduce risk of injury to driver and front passenger.
“4×4 buyers are sure to be pleased with the announcement of 5 star ANCAP safety ratings for all variants of the Toyota Landcruiser 200 Series and Mitsubishi Pajero models. These are very popular choices for fleets and families alike and we now know they’ll be better protected in these upgraded models,” said ANCAP Chairman, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh.
Note that the Mitsubishi Pajero sold in South Africa does not benefit from this upgrade.
Tunland down to 3 stars
On the down side, the Foton Tunland has been rated with 3 stars by the Aussie authority, stating that it performed poorly in the crash testing, and as a result of the lack of electronic stability control (ESC). ESC has been a mandatory requirement for 4 star ANCAP ratings since 2012.
Conversely, recent market entrant, the Foton Tunland, only achieved a 3 star ANCAP safety rating (for the 4×4 dual cab variant). The Tunland had relatively poor crash test performance and lacks electronic stability control (ESC). ANCAP established ESC as a mandatory requirement for 5 star ratings from 2008 and for 4 stars from 2012.
“ESC is a life-saver – particularly in vehicles with a higher centre of gravity. There really is no excuse for a new vehicle coming into the market today to be without ESC, which is now mandatory for passenger cars,” said Mr McIntosh.
