Three New Models Earn Highest ASEAN Safety Rating

The New Car Assessment Program for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations releases safety ratings for 11 new vehicles available across the region and gives three of them the maximum five stars.

The Toyota Prius, Honda Civic and Subaru XV all receive the top safety rating in Phase II of ASEAN NCAP testing involving an offset-frontal-collision test at a closing speed of 40 mph (64 km/h).

The other vehicles tested that achieved 4-star ratings: the Suzuki Swift, Mazda2, Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota Avanza, Perodua Alza, Nissan Almera, Daihatsu Xenia and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

Wong Shaw Voon, steering committee chairman-ASEAN NCAP, says the completion of Phase II is good news for consumers in the region, “as there now are more cars available with NCAP safety ratings to help inform their purchasing decisions.”

ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke says the testing program has made significant progress since its inception two years ago.

Program administrators not only have conducted another round of successful tests but also have “developed strong relationships with manufacturers, approved another lab for testing within the region and expanded the scope of their test program to include larger people movers and SUVs,” Clarke says in a statement.

Voon says the testing gives auto makers an opportunity to feature their leading products in the ASEAN market.

Honda Malaysia did just that, quickly issuing a statement proclaiming how its ninth-generation Civic has topped the crash test, “reinforcing its value of being a safe family sedan car.” It achieved a 5-star rating in adult-occupant protection and 82% in child-occupant protection.

Suzuki Malaysia says the Swift GLX 1.4L emerged as the most outstanding car among the complete-knocked-down models for the domestic market with a 4-star rating.

The locally manufactured hatchback, specifically produced for Malaysia, received a 4-star rating for adult-occupant protection with 13.3 points out of a possible 16, and achieved child-occupant-protection compliance of 77%.

Kenjiro Matsumoto, head of aftersales-Suzuki Malaysia, says in a statement the crash-test result will boost the auto maker’s expansion plan for the ASEAN region.

“The ASEAN NCAP is getting more visibility within the ASEAN market nowadays,” Matsumoto says. “So to begin with the Malaysian market, we will expand this safety activity to other countries in Southeast Asia.”