The Nissan Qashqai small SUV and Mercedes-Benz C-Class have been awarded a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating while Ssangyong Stavic received only a four-star rating.

ACCORDING TO ANCAP both the petrol and diesel variants of the Nissan Qashqai performed well in all aspects of ANCAP testing enabling it to achieve the top 5 star ANCAP safety rating (scoring 36.56/37). However, ANCAP chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh critcised Nissan for not having autonomous emergency braking a standard feature of the Nissan Qashqai in Australia – it’s standard in Europe.

“Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) is available on the European-sold Qashqai yet it is not available at all on Australian and New Zealand models. It is astounding to see yet another mainstream manufacturer despecify their models for our local market,” said ANCAP Chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh.

“AEB is a proven life-saver and all manufacturers should be doing their utmost to bring this technology to the market today. The lack of AEB cannot be a matter of cost as it is available on other inexpensive cars.”

“Are lives in Australia and New Zealand worth less than those in Europe?” McIntosh questioned.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class scored its five-star ANCAP safety rating (36.46/37) with good crash test performance and a suite of standard safety assist technologies including standard AEB across all models and an ‘active’ bonnet for improved pedestrian protection. This rating applies to all current C-Class variants.

The updated seven-seater Ssangyong Stavic however fell short of the five-star mark consumers are now expecting (scoring 24.55/37).

“A number of factors limited the Stavic to 4 stars including its average performance in the frontal offset crash test and the lack of head-protecting side curtain airbags,” said McIntosh.

Results from the frontal offset test of the Stavic showed chest and upper and lower leg injuries were likely for the driver. Structural integrity was lost at the lower A-pillar and movement of the brake pedal was excessive.