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Mitsubishi ASX crash test. (Photo: ANCAP)

JAKARTA - Mitsubishi Australia has reaffirmed its belief that vehicles with a four-star safety rating under the latest Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) criteria remain safe for consumers. This follows the results obtained on the Mitsubishi ASX model.

As reported by Drive, Thursday, December 25, the second generation ASX has the opportunity to maintain the four-star rating adopted from Europe. General Manager of Product Strategy Mitsubishi Australia Bruce Hampel, assessed the four-star standard still reflects a high level of safety.

"As a four-star car, this is a very safe car. I remember when ANCAP first introduced the star rating, the goal was that four stars should be a guideline, and only exceptional vehicles get five stars," said Hampel.

"Over the past 15-20 years since ANCAP was established, the expectation that slowly increased to reach five stars is the minimum requirement, which is good, and we have fulfilled it if necessary," he continued.

For information, ANCAP was established in 1993 to conduct vehicle crash tests in the Australasian region. As local car production ends, the agency has aligned its protocols with Euro NCAP, so that it can adopt vehicle test results from abroad despite differences in steering wheels and drive configurations.

In recent years, ANCAP standards have also become increasingly strict. A number of technologies such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and driver monitoring systems are now prerequisites for achieving a maximum score of five stars.

Next year, ANCAP will even adopt the latest Euro NCAP standards that reduce points for driver assistance systems that are judged to be distracting. At the same time, it will update the physical collision protection assessment method.

On the other hand, the second generation ASX failed to secure five stars due to the absence of a driver monitoring system required for the highest rating. This model also did not reach the 80 percent threshold on the adult passenger protection test, falling about four points short of the five-star requirement.

Even so, Hampel assessed that this would not erode the appeal of the ASX, especially among private buyers. The small SUV segment such as the ASX itself has a different market character.

"With the ASX around 80 per cent of small SUV customers are private customers, fleet business is something we comfortably leave to this particular segment," said Hampel.

"It's not that we're happy about it, but it's something we can accept given the target customer we're aiming for with this vehicle, and we'll continue to investigate in the future as we develop this product," he said.

For the record, Mitsubishi Australia has taken decisive action regarding safety issues. In 2022, they stopped selling the Express van only about a year after it was marketed, following the zero-star rating from ANCAP at that time.