• In the latest round of local ANCAP safety testing, the highly-anticipated Toyota Prado and Kia EV5 have both demonstrated high levels of safety, achieving five-star ratings against the latest test criteria.
• Locally-sold versions of the Suzuki Swift, however, fall under the shadow of a less positive result, with a one-star rating.

Toyota Prado

The all-new Toyota Prado has achieved a five-star ANCAP safety rating across its model line-up following its introduction to the Australian and New Zealand markets last month.

Rigorous local testing highlighted strong performance across all four key assessment areas, including scores of 85% for Adult Occupant Protection, 89% for Child Occupant Protection, 84% for Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 82% for Safety Assist.

In the demanding frontal offset head-on crash test, the level of protection offered to the majority of critical body regions of the driver and front passenger was Good with the exception of the driver’s lower leg and chest where protection was rated as Adequate and Marginal respectively. For the two child dummies seated in the second row, protection was Good and the Prado achieved maximum points.

The Prado is equipped with active collision avoidance features capable of detecting other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, with Good performance recorded across the majority of on-track test scenarios.

“The new Toyota Prado delivers a robust level of safety that aligns with the expectations of fleet buyers and everyday consumers. This is yet another strong result with the new generation Prado demonstrating Toyota’s continued focus on safety across its model line-up,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

Kia EV5

All variants of the electric Kia EV5 introduced to Australia and New Zealand from October 2024 have achieved a five-star rating. Independent ANCAP testing of the mid-size SUV revealed good overall performance, including an impressive vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility score.

Maximum points were scored for the driver in the side impact test; both child dummies in the frontal offset test; AEB car-to-car collision avoidance performance; and for its post-crash credentials including multi-collision braking, vehicle submergence countermeasures, and provision of a first-responder Rescue Sheet.

Testing did however provide constructive feedback for Kia, with a small opening detected in the footwell seam following the frontal offset test; a reduced level of head-to-head contact protection to front seat occupants in the oblique pole test; and potential hard knee contact for front seat occupants in the frontal offset test. Penalties were applied.

“The Kia EV5 has been put through its paces, with notable areas of good performance as well as some areas we hope Kia will look to enhance,” Ms Hoorweg said.

Suzuki Swift

The fourth generation Suzuki Swift entered the Australian and New Zealand markets earlier this year. At the time of market launch, Suzuki Australia advised that the safety specification of vehicles sold locally differed to those sold in Europe with additional testingi subsequently undertaken by ANCAP to accurately assess the performance of AUS/NZ models.

ANCAP testing of locally-sold vehicles revealed areas of concern, with the Swift’s physical crash protection performance resulting in a one-star safety rating. A score of 47% was achieved for Adult Occupant Protection and 59% scored for Child Occupant Protection. Its collision avoidance performance was also limited, with a score of 54% recorded in the Safety Assist assessment pillar.

“Earlier this year ANCAP was informed of physical differences between locally-supplied Swift models and those supplied in Europe so we conducted a range of additional crash tests on local vehicles and found some areas of concern.”

“In comparison to the three-star rating achieved by Swift vehicles sold in Europe, vehicles sold in Australia and New Zealand performed differently when crash tested.”

Performance variation was seen in the frontal offset and full-width crash tests, with higher chest loads and leg injury risk (excessive pedal movement) to the driver in the frontal offset test, and a significantly greater rear passenger chest compression measurement recorded in the full-with test which exceeded allowable limits. Protection of the chest – a critical body region – was therefore assessed as Poor and the score capped, resulting in 0 points awarded for this test.

“The design of some of the structural elements and restraints in locally-sold Swift vehicles appear to lack robustness leading to variation in crash performance,” Ms Hoorweg said.

Poor scores - indicated by red colour-coding in the ANCAP Technical Report for the Suzuki Swift - were also recorded for the head and chest of the child dummies in the head-on and side-impact crash test scenarios. The Child Occupant Protection result of 59% is one of the lowest scores seen to date.ii

The Suzuki Swift is the latest model to enter the Australasian market with different safety credentials to its European counterpart. It follows safety-related differences recently uncovered through ANCAP assessments of the Honda Civic, CR-V and ZR-V. While ANCAP and Euro NCAP test and rating criteria were aligned in 2018 to promote consistency across markets, scrutiny of locally available models remains essential to identify specification differences.

“This one-star result serves as an important reminder for prospective buyers to check the ANCAP safety rating of the vehicle they’re looking to buy,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

Full details on the safety performance of each model can be viewed at:

• Toyota Prado
• Kia EV5
• Suzuki Swift

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rhianne Robson

Director – Communications

0408 296 550