Shooting star
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Built-in safety: Ford says its new Falcon's safety is based on structural integrity and is not compromised by the lack of standard curtain airbags.
Ford still expects to upstage rivals with first local five-star crash result
By MARTON PETTENDY
10 April 2008
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FORD Australia says it will not match Holden's Commodore and Toyota's Aurion by making side curtain airbags standard across its new FG Falcon sedan range, but unofficially still expects it to become the first Australian-made car to achieve a five-star NCAP crash test rating.
Bringing the total number of airbags to six, curtain airbags are standard in the Falcon G6E and G6E Turbo, but will remain a $300 option on the rest of the redesigned Falcon sedan range that goes on sale in May.
Extending head protection to rear seat occupants, curtain airbags have been standard equipment in the Toyota Aurion since its launch in November 2006 and in the Commodore from this month, but Ford remains adamant it will not fit the potentially life-saving safety devices in response to its rivals' moves.
"If we believed we needed to do it then we would have made them standard," said Ford Australia vice-president of product development Trevor Worthington in response to questioning at this week's national media drive of the newest Falcon since the AU of 1998.
Following a lengthy safety presentation in which Ford said the FG was the safest Falcon it has ever designed thanks to Australian-firsts such as the employment of state-of-the-art door pressure sensors and ultra-high-strength boron steel in its 92 per cent new body structure, Ford Australia president Bill Osborne described the four-versus-six airbag argument as "unenlightened".
"We went through a very detailed presentation that explained to you how and what we designed," he said. "It would seem to me that there is weight in that presentation and to reduce it to four versus six airbags is not an enlightened view.
"The point I am trying to make is that all of those conclusions come from the assumption that you can discern the safety performance of a vehicle by counting the airbags. An individual feature does not determine the safety feature of a vehicle.
 "It cannot be reduced to the presence or absence of one particular feature," said Mr Osborne, adding that he would be "comfortable" in a Falcon fitted with four airbags, which in the FG's case comprises twin front and twin front side/head-protecting airbags.
A Ford spokesperson told GoAuto that, despite the fact the entry-level FG Falcon XT would still undercut the VE Commodore Omega at base level if fitted as standard with curtain airbags, it would be unfair to make buyers, including fleet customers, pay extra for a safety device that would be redundant for 90 per cent of the time.
"We believe our car, without a side curtain airbag, is safer than other cars fitted with side curtain airbags," said the spokesperson.
"Vehicle structure is what delivers the best crash outcomes. We have invested heavily in basic vehicle structure, rather than simply adding curtain airbags. We welcome independent crash testing of the FG."
Mr Worthington and Ford Australia sales and marketing chief Mark Winslow both ruled out the availability of a VE Commodore Omega V-Series-style special value pack, potentially containing curtain airbags, for the FG Falcon any time soon.
Ford Australia said the FG Falcon was subjected to the most rigorous safety development program it has ever conducted, including a record 5000 simulated crashes and 90 physical prototype crashes at world-class crash test facilities in Australia, Detroit and at Volvo in Sweden.
Officially, Ford will not forecast a five-star crash test rating from leading independent automotive safety body, Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), which would see the eighth-generation Falcon better the results achieved by the Aurion and the Commodore, both of which have been awarded equal-best Australian-made vehicle scores of four stars.
Mr Worthington confirmed that Ford had replicated ANCAP crash testing with the new Falcon, but would not forecast an ANCAP crash test rating. Nor will Ford reveal its internal crash test results but, off the record, senior Ford executives have confirmed the FG was designed to achieve a five-star ANCAP rating.
"We understand very well all of the modes we need to design for to deliver real world crash safety," he said. "How well our car will perform in some particular modes we will just have to wait and see.
"Every time you do a single test you get a single outcome. We would say the robustness of our engineering and our design is significantly more robust than ever before. But (with) one particular crash you will get a different result every time.
"So we can say that it is the safest Falcon ever, but we have to wait and see what the result will be. We have high hopes for how it will perform," said Mr Worthington.
ANCAP conducts a 64km/h frontal offset and a 50km/h side impact test of newly-released popular models soon after their launch, which are purchased off the showroom floor by ANCAP - except in cases where a large number of ADR-certified examples of a model may be offered for random selection by ANCAP prior to their launch.
ANCAP generally chooses the biggest-selling variant within a given model range, which in the FG's case means a Falcon XT with four airbags. However, GoAuto has learned that Ford chose not to offer vehicles to ANCAP ahead of the Falcon's launch following advice from a media outlet that it would receive negative press if it did so.
If a car scores highly enough in the offset front and side barrier tests and is fitted with side airbags, it is then eligible for a side-impact pole test, which is a pre-requisite for a five-star safety rating - as is the fitment of electronic stability control from this year. Third vehicles subjected to pole tests are generally donated by the car company in question.
Both Holden and Toyota declined to give an example of their respective Commodore and Aurion models for the pole test, making them ineligible to receive five-star ratings.
A senior Ford executive told GoAuto the only reason they would have done so is if they believed their vehicle would not have passed the pole test – despite the fitment of curtain airbags in the Aurion's case at the time.
Mr Osborne said the decision to supply a Falcon for the ANCAP pole test had not been made yet and that the decision would rest with Ford Motor Company's global safety council.
He said he would recommend Ford Australia be allowed to supply a vehicle for the pole test, but not before the Falcon goes on sale next month.
Read more:
First drive: New Falcon XR8 now the black sheep
First drive: FG Falcon sedan stuns at base XT level
First drive: Ford raises its game with new G6
Ford to renew push for Falcon exports
Ford considers standard curtains for Falcon
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