New Kia Sorento, Land Rover Defender score five-star safety

Two of Australia’s newest SUV arrivals have scored five stars under ANCAP’s safety ratings scheme based on their European crash test results.

The 2021 Kia Sorento seven-seat large SUV performed well across a variety of physical crashes and bolstered that performance with a ‘very strong’ Safety Assistance score of 89 per cent – the highest score achieved to date under 2020’s new stringent assessment criteria.

13

"The Kia Sorento introduces a number of new features to the Large SUV segment including an advanced autonomous emergency braking system with the ability to brake to prevent collisions when turning in front of another vehicle," said ANCAP director of communications Rhianne Robson.

"For a vehicle of its size and mass, the Sorento also offers good levels of compatibility with other vehicles – reducing the risk of serious injury to occupants in an opponent vehicle.”

Land Rover’s 2021 Defender also fared well across the four key criteria areas.

13

"Adult Occupant Protection and Child Occupant Protection scored well, with maximum points recorded for adult occupants in the side impact and oblique pole tests, and for child occupants in the frontal offset and side impact tests."

13

"In contrast to the Sorento however, the front structure of the Defender presents a higher risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in a crash, and as a result, its score in the frontal offset test was reduced," Robson added.

Both tests were applied to the ANCAP standard after being conducted by Europe’s Euro NCAP equivalent. Both testing standards mirror one another, meaning results from one apply directly to the other.

The five star safety rating is applicable to all variants of the Land Rover Defender, but only the diesel versions of the Kia Sorento will receive official five-star standards.

No petrol versions of the Kia Sorento are sold in Europe (therefore no petrol cars on-test), likely explaining the difference.