ge5525788929631001589
Ken Gratton14 Nov 2014
NEWS

ANCAP changes: Forecast is for confusion

Vehicle safety goal posts are shifting year by year, and there are now two sets – with a handicap system

The date-stamp logo on ANCAP's vehicle safety material may prove to be the saviour of crash safety testing relevance in the Australian marketplace.

Or it may not. It's such a little thing: the year that car X was tested might be five years ago, or last year. That is supposed to make all the difference in a buyer's perception of a car's safety. Is the safety up to date or is it a thing of the past?

Much will depend on the ability of ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) to spell out for consumers that it's no longer enough to look for five-star safety, they should also cross-shop the five-star cars against each other on the basis of when each was tested.

Even then, a 2013-tested five-star car may remain a safer car in a crash than a five-star car tested in 2015.

Against a background of escalating irrelevance for the five-star (optimal safety) rating issued by both ANCAP and its European counterpart, Euro NCAP, allied with a future in which cars drive themselves – and hopefully don't crash – ANCAP has been compelled to reinvent itself to some degree.

Its increasing focus on primary safety (crash avoidance) technology is at odds with its long-standing remit of testing crash safety. In advance of this new world order of safe cars that never crash, ANCAP is now setting itself the task of measuring and assessing primary safety, but it has to make the adjustment slowly, in order to keep faith with its consumers, partners and 'frenemies' in the automotive industry.

A new system – the 'two pathway' system – will see out the final years of ANCAP's 'road map', commencing next year and concluding at the end of 2017. From 2018, the existing ANCAP testing regime will be dropped, and the local testing authority will complete its migration to Euro NCAP's regime.

ANCAP's CEO, Nicholas Clarke, told motoring.com.au that the changes are being introduced slowly to accommodate long-lead production and engineering changes at manufacturer level. But ANCAP is an Australian testing body and there will be no new models built here after Toyota's facelifted Camry around the middle of 2015 and Holden's facelifted Commodore by this time next year.

And all locally manufactured cars, including Holden's Cruze, the Ford Territory and Toyota Aurion, are already rated five-star safe. Even Ford's new FG X Falcon is based heavily on the current FG Series II, and is expected to be at least as safe in a crash.

So why has ANCAP dragged out the process of harmonising its testing protocol with that of Euro NCAP?

"ANCAP has to operate in an environment where the production of cars does take some time, from initial concepts and designs – until the cars are about on the road," Clarke advised.

"We have to be at least conscious of the time it takes to get product onto the market. It's very difficult for us to say: 'OK, we're doing this one day, and tomorrow we're doing something else', because obviously that could have unintended consequences for safety, for the markets and, of course for manufacturers.

"It's important we allow sufficient time for product to be updated, but at the same time provide some incentive to get safer cars into the market as quickly as we can. That's the beauty of this dual pathway [system]."

In essence then, ANCAP is winding down the existing system between 2015 and 2017 – by which time local manufacturing by Ford, Holden and Toyota will have concluded.

One pathway will be based on the existing ANCAP testing procedures, which allows the locals to continue claiming five-star safety in the transitional period, but the other pathway – a more restrictive pathway – will hold imported products to a higher standard. That's the theory... it may not work out quite that way in practice.

The first pathway is the ANCAP road map that has been in place since 2011 – with changes rolled out to the testing protocol from the start of each new year. As an integral part of that, ANCAP has been accepting data from cars tested in Europe, to massage and extrapolate a localised result.

According to Clarke, as much as 50 per cent of all ANCAP safety ratings have been based on data from vehicles tested by Euro NCAP in Europe. But from January 1 next year, vehicles tested in Europe will be rated the same by ANCAP, irrespective of any influence the relevant road map protocol might have brought to bear.

One example of the way the second pathway could motivate car companies to upgrade the safety of vehicles sold in Australia is the Nissan QASHQAI. In the UK, where it's built, the compact SUV offers Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), but is not sold in Australia with that technology.

The QASHQAI is a five-star car in both Europe and Australia, but from next year – if it were 'tested' again based on the local specification – it would not achieve five stars because it lacks the AEB that's a pre-requisite for five-star safety under the Euro NCAP rules.

On occasions in the past, four-star Euro NCAP cars have achieved a five-star rating with ANCAP in Australia. The two-star Euro NCAP rating for the Jeep Compass translated to a four-star ANCAP rating here.

As recently as today, Suzuki Australia issued a press release stating that its Celerio will fare better in ANCAP testing than its European counterpart managed when tested by Euro NCAP. Suzuki says that the Aussie-spec Celerio will feature side curtain airbags and rear seatbelt reminders, so the successor to the Alto should achieve four stars in accordance with ANCAP testing.

Under the dual pathway system, Celerio would be a three-star car in Australia, because that's how it has been rated by Euro NCAP. But Clarke subsequently said that it's a case of wait and see.

"A different variant offered here would likely be subjected to testing here, but again we need to wait until we know exactly what we will get.  For example, if the Celerio is fitted with curtain airbags then further testing will be required – particularly the side pole impact test, as it scored zero in that test (without curtains) conducted by Euro NCAP."

It's not simply a matter of ANCAP looking at the Euro data and adding five points to the tally because the Celerio has side curtain airbags here – and the Suzuki then achieving a four-star rating in Australia. Suzuki may have to subject the Celerio to a local test – at its own expense – if it wants to promote the micro-hatch as four-star safe.

The situation from 2018 will be much the same, in effect. Another car like the Celerio might have to undergo separate testing in Australia to allow for different safety equipment features fitted. Clarke told motoring.com.au that car companies wishing to go with a local ANCAP test during the three-year period the dual-pathway system is in place will be required to pay the cost of crash testing here.

There is suspicion within the industry that car companies will stack the deck during the dual-pathway period between now and 2018.

Renault's small SUV, the Captur, lacking airbag protection for rear-seat occupants, would not achieve a five-star score under the current ANCAP rules. It was, however, tested by Euro NCAP back in 2013 – and rated five-star safe at the time. If the car had gone on sale here this year, ANCAP crash testing would have limited it to four stars only, since ANCAP's stipulation that five-star cars must have a higher level of occupant safety in the rear is not currently shared with Euro NCAP.

But with Captur's introduction delayed beyond this year, it would be reported by ANCAP as a five-star vehicle, based on the Euro NCAP test undertaken in 2013. It should be noted too that the Captur, even if introduced this year, would not necessarily have been tested locally by ANCAP anyway. Euro NCAP will adopt rear airbag protection as a pre-requisite for five stars in 2016. In the meantime the Captur is a five-star car in Europe, but nominally a four-star car here.

Clarke acknowledges that some cars are bound to "fall between the cracks", but the Captur is a rarity in Europe, where "the vast majority" of cars tested by Euro NCAP do have side curtain protection for the rear-seat occupants. And the ANCAP CEO also observed that the date stamp logo applied in all ANCAP material will clearly show the Captur has been tested in accordance with a protocol that's less stringent.

Clarke is positive the changes for ANCAP will be of benefit to consumers in Australia and says that, notwithstanding Euro NCAP's blind-eye approach to rear-seat occupant protection, the European testing regime is actually ahead of Australia's in other respects.

Euro NCAP's focus on SAT (Safety Assist Technology) and its migration to heavier crash resistance testing in January next year will move it well ahead of ANCAP's tests. According to Clarke, Euro NCAP will adopt full frontal impact and heavier side impact and oblique side pole impact testing from January.

But it's SAT that's shaping up to be the silver bullet to reduce road trauma, and particularly AEB within that basket of technology.

"[AEB] is showing in research overseas to be a real life-saver," says Clarke. "We think that the faster we can get AEB into cars here, the more downward pressure we will put on the road toll."

Clarke admits there is no longer the same need – and the advance of technology is driving that – for ANCAP and other safety testing programs to focus on crash safety alone. Modern vehicle structures for four- and five-star cars are "pretty good".

"Yes, there's been a shift in focus," Clarke says. "Now it's all about crash avoidance."

"Avoiding a crash is better than having one..."

Share this article
Written byKen Gratton
See all articles
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Looking for a family car?Get the latest advice and reviews on family car that's right for you.
Explore the Family Hub
Family
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.

If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.