Safety Concerns Move Safety Parley Out of Thailand

The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) delays releasing the results of its latest vehicle safety testing and moves the announcement from Thailand to Malaysia because of the unstable political situation in Bangkok.

ASEAN NCAP Deputy Secretary-General Azhar Hamzah says the changes are for safety and security considerations for the event and its participants.

“The event in March will be postponed by about a month from the original dates, including a change in the meeting venue,” Azhar says in an emailed statement.

“Plan B is back to Malaysia. The tentative dates would be by the end of April or early May 2014. We will finalize the date soon and keep everyone informed. We do hope the situation becomes stable in due time so that we could plan a similar event in Bangkok within the year.”

The pilot ASEAN NCAP project concludes with completion of the third phase, after which the

agency will routinely conduct tests and release results, similar to the way other NCAP organizations work.

ASEAN NCAP Secretary-General Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim says the program closely is following targets set by the steering committee so far.

“We try our very best…to create a fair situation among OEMs,” he says in a statement. “This includes the testing of pickups, left-hand-drive cars for the first time and testing cars from various origins” such as India, China and France.

“We have 11 models, with two models in both lowest and premium versions,” he says. “So, we are expecting 13 results at the end of Phase III.”