A star short for D-Max and Colorado models

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has expressed concerns about the 4-star ANCAP safety ratings for the Isuzu D-Max and single / space cab Holden Colorado utilities released today.

The 4-star ANCAP safety rating for the single / space cab Holden Colorado utilities closely follows the 5-star ANCAP safety rating achieved by the crew (dual) cab Colorado earlier this year.

A difference in safety specifications means there is a higher risk of serious occupant injury in the single / space cab Colorados, and the D-Max, than the Colorado crew cab. The single / space cab Colorado variants are fitted with only single pretensioners for the seat belts and a driver seat belt reminder (SBR) compared with dual pretensioners and driver and front passenger SBRs which are standard on the crew cab.

“The 4-star ANCAP safety rating for the D-Max is an improvement on the rating of the former model, but with an increasing number of fleets now requiring 5-star vehicles, and consumers also purchasing these utes for family transport, safety should be the priority when making the purchasing decision,” says ANCAP chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh.

“The 5-star ANCAP safety rating of the Colorado crew cabs should be praised; however, a 4-star result for the single / space cab models is disappointing,” McIntosh adds.

“Like the single / space cab Colorados, the shared-platform D-Max also has only single pretensioners resulting in the 4-star ANCAP safety rating,” says McIntosh.

“While the Colorado’s pedestrian protection result was ‘acceptable’, the D-Max’s was ‘marginal’. ANCAP would like to see manufacturers all targeting the top level of pedestrian protection to reduce injuries to unprotected road users,” McIntosh says.

ANCAP continues to encourage both private and commercial consumers to ‘accept nothing less’ than 5-star safety ratings across passenger and light commercial vehicles.

This has been backed by some large mining fleet operators requiring such a result for its purchases – leading to Toyota acknowledging a mid-cycle revision to bring the Hilux to that level is on the way.