The Haval H9 has failed to achieve a five-star safety rating, according to the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP).
In a press release issued by the safety authority overnight, ANCAP revealed that the H9, a large SUV that recently went on sale in Australia, didn't achieve the necessary standard in frontal offset crash testing.
"New vehicle buyers have come to expect five-star safety from new models and unfortunately this result falls short of marketplace expectations," said ANCAP CEO, James Goodwin.
"This is the first rating for the Haval brand in Australia following its entry to the local market last year and the first independent safety rating for the H9 in the world."
Haval, a sub-brand of Great Wall, which was formerly sold here by Ateco Automotive, has positioned itself in Australia as a premium offering, with the H9 nominally a Toyota Prado competitor. The Toyota was tested by ANCAP in 2014 and achieved five stars – in accordance with a less stringent testing process. Given the asking price the H9 was expected to perform better during the crash testing process, says Goodwin.
"The H9 is being marketed as a premium offering from China's highest selling SUV brand and we would expect a vehicle in this price range to offer a greater range of advanced safety features and improved crash performance," he said.
ANCAP's results revealed that the H9 yielded respectable side impact and whiplash protection, but let itself down in the frontal offset test. Lower leg protection was deemed 'marginal' and there was some risk of serious chest injury for the driver.
The importer reacted much as expected, expressing surprise at the final score for the H9.
"Our engineers have been working very hard to deliver a five-star safety rating and all our testing indicated that we would achieve this result. The results of the ANCAP test were clearly unexpected," said Haval spokesman Andrew Ellis, the company's Public Relations and Product Specialist.
According to Ellis, the H9 fell short by 0.45 points in the frontal offset test. If it had scored enough points it would have been eligible for ANCAP's pole test. That, in turn, would have added points to its score and helped it over the line for a five-star rating. The H9 needed 32.5 points to be rated five-star safe, but without the pole test it scored just 30.7 points.
"Our engineers are now analysing all the data from the tests, so we can achieve the five star result our customers demand and that we as a company expect," said HAVAL's Vice President of Global R&D, Suguya Fukusato.