The new cars stripped of five-star safety ratings from today

Some of Australia's best-selling new cars are Removed 5-star safety rating starting today – Excluded for fleets that mandate top marks – However, vehicles will continue to be sold.

Five-star ratings were created 30 years ago to provide consumers with more detailed information about different levels of safety for new cars in showrooms.

Crash tests consistently show that the number of airbags alone cannot determine the true safety level of a new vehicle. Rather, it is how airbags, body structures and other safety systems perform in a crash to affect or protect occupants.

In addition to being a consumer safety guide, the 5-star safety rating has been mandated by fleet operators, mining companies, and businesses large and small for most of the decade due to stricter guidelines on occupational health and safety. It has been taken.

Australia's New Car Rating Program (ANCAP), an independent watchdog, has since introduced a six-year expiration date on safety scores, giving consumers more opportunities to compare comparable results.

Before expiration dates were introduced, nothing stopped auto companies from touting five-star results that were over a decade old. And so did his new car, which has earned him a five-star rating by the more stringent standards of recent times.

The first deadline under the new guidelines, 31 December 2022, has now wiped out the oldest safety ratings on over a dozen new vehicles still on sale in Australia.

Under the new system, which will come into effect from 1 January 2023, the 5-star safety score will be valid for 6 years (plus the year the vehicle was tested) and not indefinitely.

Top-selling vehicles such as the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 will not be affected by the December 31, 2022 changes. The safety score is recent. The current generation Nissan Patrol does not have his ANCAP score.

fleet expert said drive Five Star Score for Work Vehicles Already used before it expires Date 12/31/2022 These vehicles will be allowed at work next year with a five-star mandate.

However, it is not yet known if identical vehicles handed over after today (January 1, 2023) will be allowed on sites with a 5-star mandate.

An auto company spokesperson said drive The standard safety equipment on vehicles such as the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Prado, popular with fleet companies and mining operators with five-star safety obligations, hasn't changed from last year to today. .

However, these vehicles will not have a 5-star safety score if delivered new after 2023.

drive Auto company executives have told us that new model replacements for the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Prado will be on display in showrooms.

However, final technological development on new model replacements for these vehicles has been delayed for the past two years due to the pandemic.

Fleet industry experts said, "While many private and government fleet operators face the coming changes, many contractors at mining sites and other worksites with five-star safety mandates say this I don't think it will come," he said. drive last year.

“The important point is that even if the vehicles are technically identical and have the same safety features and crash performance, the vehicles will be cleared on site with deliveries in December 2022 and January 2023. It can make a big difference whether

drive is not aware of any major fleet or mining operators that are considering waiving their five-star safety obligations.

“This change could force a lot of contractors out. That being said, there are still plenty of other brands of vehicles with five-star ratings in these categories,” Fleet experts said. said. drive.

long-term research by drive Vehicles not evaluated until February 2022 to see if they plan to make costly safety upgrades to affected vehicles later in the model cycle or until newer models arrive We repeatedly surveyed affected manufacturers to see if they planned to continue using .

To date, no automaker has resubmitted a vehicle to a new set of tests late in the model lifecycle.

According to a statement from Nissan Australia, "Navara vehicles with a production date after January 2023 are no longer subject to the current ANCAP rating, the Nissan Navara rating has expired and the vehicle will be listed as not being rated by ANCAP. will be

“With seven airbags, fatigue detection, forward collision warning and emergency braking, the Navara is equipped with features and assistance that prioritize the safety of all occupants.”

The more dear version of the Nissan Navara is also equipped with blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert and tire pressure monitor.

Nissan has said it has no plans to remove the advanced safety system it added last year, even though the vehicle's safety is currently listed as "not rated."

Sean Westcott, President of Mitsubishi Australia drive: "We continue to pursue the most appropriate level of safety for the market. However, the reality is that we are in the process of reviewing our model line-up and a new Triton is being developed.

"Unfortunately for us, the (five-star safety expiration) change was made late in the current Triton's lifecycle and ... the next generation of Triton was delayed due to COVID."

Mitsubishi Australia has three models affected by the lapse of 5-star safety scores. The Triton ute, his four-wheel-drive wagon brother to Pajero Sport, is the ASX City SUV.

"The bottom line is that our cars are as safe the day after the ANCAP score expires as they were the day before. We haven't taken the technology out of the car," Westcott said.

Crash test ratings from 2015 and earlier will expire on December 31, 2022.

Crash test ratings from 2016 expire at the end of 2023.

Crash test ratings from 2017 expire at the end of 2024.