Four new SUVs awarded top ANCAP scores

ANCAP has awarded the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Nissan X-Trail and Toyota Corolla Cross SUVs a five-star safety rating as the 2020-2022 test and rating criteria draws closer to an end.

For the Range Rover and closely related Range Rover Sport, a five-star rating was issued to all diesel, petrol and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants. The duo scored full points for protection of adult and child occupants in the side impact test and the driver in the oblique pole tests.

ANCAP said car-to-car and pedestrian AEB (forward) performance also scored well, however active avoidance of pedestrians while reversing is not offered.

A centre airbag is also not offered on the Range Rover or Range Rover Sport, although the size of the vehicles and their cabin designs meant performance in far side impact tests was still respectable.

The upper-large segment Range Rover scored 84 per cent in the adult occupant protection category, 86 per cent in the child occupant protection category, 72 per cent in the vulnerable road user protection category, and 84 per cent in the safety assist category.

Meanwhile, the large segment Range Rover Sport scored 85 per cent in the adult occupant protection category, 86 per cent in the child occupant protection category, 69 per cent in the vulnerable road user protection category, and 84 per cent in the safety assist category.

For the newly released medium segment Nissan X-Trail petrol and hybrid range – which was assessed as a partner model to the recently high-scoring Nissan Qashqai – a comparable high level of active safety performance helped achieve an overall safety assist score of 97 per cent, which ANCAP says contributed to its five-star rating.

Elsewhere, the Nissan X-Trail scored 91 per cent in the adult occupant protection category, 90 per cent in the child occupant protection category, and 74 per cent in the vulnerable road user protection category.

Nissan Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania regional research and development senior vice president David Moss said the results were engineered into the X-Trail from the very beginning.

“The outstanding performances of both the new X-Trail and the Ariya, which are very different vehicles, built on different platforms, demonstrates the cross-car strategy Nissan has for its models,” he said.

“The development of all our vehicles starts with outstanding body engineering,

through the use of advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to ensure excellent structural integrity.

“This is complemented by an advanced suite of technologies that act as a second pair of eyes, identifying potential dangers and helping the driver to avoid an accident.

“This comprehensive testing and rating programme really allows consumers to understand our dedication to safety and how seriously we take our customers’ welfare.”

The X-Trail was joined in a five-star result by the new small-segment Toyota Corolla Cross, which ANCAP noted as the highest-scoring model in the area of vulnerable road user protection – with a score of 87 per cent – against the current 2022-2022 rating criteria.

Good scores were achieved in both the side impact and oblique pole tests as well as across the majority of autonomous emergency braking, emergency lane keeping, and lane keep assist test scenarios.

However, marginal performance was recorded for the chest of the driver in the frontal offset test, and a penalty was applied for far side impact protection as Toyota did not provide the additional information required to demonstrate that performance would provide similar levels of protection (robustness) for occupants of different sizes.

As well as high marks for vulnerable road user protection, the Corolla Cross scored 85 per cent in the adult occupant protection category, 88 per cent in the child occupant protection category, and 83 per cent in the safety assist category.

The five-star rating applies to both petrol- and hybrid-powered models.

“As we approach the end of this 2020-2022 protocol period and look ahead to a broadened test regime from 2023, it is pleasing to see a continued high level of safety performance offered from a range of brands,” said ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg.

Ms Hoorweg says the heavily revised test criteria will be applied from 2026 and will be subject to a three-year protocol update cycle rather than the previous two years.