ANCAP to change star rating system

ANCAP will change its star-ratings system under CEO Carla Hoorweg as it looks to reduce complexity and confusion for new and used car buyers.

Speaking exclusively to Wheels, Ms Hoorweg, who took over the role as ANCAP CEO in December 2020, said the much-debated star ratings will have a six-year expiry under the proposed changes, reducing confusion surrounding the ‘grandfathering’ of older test results.

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“This is one of the areas where we are going to be making some changes,” Hoorweg said. “At the moment, I think part of that confusion is coming because there are some really old ratings still floating around that are still valid,” she says.

Currently, ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Program) ratings allow a vehicle to ‘grandfather’ its star rating indefinitely.

This means that new vehicles can carry a star rating for the entire life cycle of that model generation, typically seven years, but in some instances a decade or more. The current Toyota Prado is a prime example, with its five-star ANCAP score achieved back in 2011.

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Currently, used car buyers are presented with the same star ratings for vehicles tested years apart and to entirely different protocols – a potential recipe for confusion. ANCAP introduced date-stamps in 2014 to help make things clearer, however Hoorweg suggests there’s still room for improvement.

“The older ratings that don’t have an expiry at the moment, we’ve been working with the industry around how these will be retired in the future,” Hoorweg told Wheels. “What we will end up with is that all ratings will have a six-year validity, so then you’ll be able to see very clearly whether or not the rating is valid or expired.

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“It gives you that ability to compare how long this rating has to run versus one that’s more recent – you know it’s going to be valid for longer, so you’ve got that five-star rated car with a valid rating that’s going to last until the end of the sixth-year life.

“I think that gives you a way of comparing, and going, ‘well, if I’m buying a vehicle that has five stars from 2017 versus a vehicle that has five stars from 2019, I know that the 2017 one is older and the rating is going to expire [sooner]’.”

Criticism of ANCAP’s rating system has recently come from multiple OEMs as well as bodies including the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), with suggestions it’s inconsistent and confusing for consumers.

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In March this year, ANCAP published its first zero-star rating after almost thirty years of testing, the dubious honour awarded to the Mitsubishi Express.

The result prompted sharp public criticism from the FCAI as well as Mitsubishi – both calling for more transparent, consistent procedures. It follows on from former ANCAP CEO, James Goodwin, previously telling Wheels the organisation will not seek headline grabbing ‘gotcha’ moments.

In the August issue of Wheels, Hoorweg candidly addresses the challenges facing ANCAP, including the Mitsubishi Express rating and the organisation’s increasingly stringent protocols going forward.