New Mustang safe despite three-star rating, says Ford

The boss of Ford Australia says consumers should not be deterred by the safety of the upgraded 2018 Mustang, distancing the venerable muscle car from a controversial new crash test score.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) confirmed a three-star out of five-star rating for the heavily updated 2018 Ford Mustang earlier this week.

The overall score marks a slight improvement over the Mustang’s original two-star ANCAP rating, namely with the addition of driver aids including automated emergency braking (AEB).

Ford Australia chief executive Graeme Whickman was undeterred by ANCAP’s latest assessment, deeming the new model safe for Australian roads.

“It’s too hard to make a purchase on the basis of headlines,” Whickman told motoring.com.au.

“I do think it’s important that we offer good technology to customers and we’ve done that with the new Mustang. But our job is to make sure the car is safe, which it is, and that it’s got some really useful technology to assist with driving – and that’s where we’re at.”

ANCAP chief executive James Goodwin delivered a scathing assessment of the Mustang’s body structure this week, but did praise Ford for integrating new driver assist technology into the update.

“Structurally, the revised Ford Mustang is identical to the Mustang we originally rated, meaning it still falls short of our expectations in the areas of Adult Occupant and Child Occupant Protection,” Goodwin noted.

The additional electronic driver aids saw the ‘Safety Assist’ ANCAP score rise from an abysmal 16 to 61 per cent, while the ‘Pedestrian Protection’ score rose from 64 to 78 per cent.

“The inclusion of driver assistance aids such as AEB and lane keep assist is a definite step in the right direction, yet these upgrades have neglected to address the injury risk posed to rear seat occupants as well as whiplash protection,” said Goodwin.

Whickman clearly disagrees.

“There was nothing to change in the structure. That vehicle is a safe vehicle. There’s no question around its structural integrity. It’s bang on where it needs to be,” he responded.

“What we did take the opportunity to do was add the likes of AEB with pedestrian, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control – and they raised the driver assist technology rating to five.”

Furthermore, Whickman called into question the crash testing process in Australia, and generally. He cited the good safety ratings of the majority of vehicles tested before the ANCAP scoring regime tightened this year, when it came into line with Euro NCAP.

“I think it can be confusing. I think consumers can be confused. There are a lot of different bodies involved,” he said.

“I think you’re going to see star ratings change dramatically on vehicles launched. There’s some confusing ‘grandfather’ approaches.

“When they actually get tested under the new regime, you’re probably going to see five-star cars drop to threes and fours, frankly.”

Whickman revealed that, in response to the Mustang safety scores, Ford had undertaken a process of explaining ratings to customers from a dealership level.

“From a pure brand point of view, we need to take time to take them through what ratings mean and how they are composed,” he said.

“We made sure of this with our sales people about 18 months ago. We wanted to make sure we could talk very factually to customers and talk about the fact that it has a five-star pedestrian rating, a four-star adult occupancy rating, a three-star child protection, a two-star driver assist rating.

“That was because we didn’t have automated emergency braking (AEB). The lower star rating means that’s the general star rating, that’s why you’re seeing that. Generally, people can make a decision factually around that.

“The outgoing car, as it is today, is a safe vehicle. It meets all the regulatory requirements. Now you fast-forward to the new car and we’ll talk to customers about the same thing: five-star pedestrian, four-star adult occupancy… we’ll talk about the facts and then they’ll make a decision.”