ANCAP ranks safety tech in commercial vans for 2023

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) safety body has tested and ranked the active safety assistance systems in every new commercial van on sale today.

Out of the 17 vans tested, the Hyundai Staria Load and Fiat Ducato came out on top, earning a ‘platinum’ performance ranking for including all safety assist technologies as standard or optional.

Both the medium and large vans had good performance across front auto emergency braking (AEB) with car/pedestrian/cyclist detection, lane departure and lane-keep assist, speed limit function, and seatbelt reminders and driver attention monitoring.

4

Fiat Ducato

However, the ageing LDV V80 and G10 cargo vans – which date back to 2011 and 2014 respectively – fell short, with no active safety systems available and were labelled as ‘not recommended’.

For the full breakdown of active safety assistance performance scores, read ANCAP’s full January 2023 report here.

Notably, the majority of the commercial vans on test don’t have an ANCAP safety rating; only the popular Hyundai Staria Load and Toyota HiAce have achieved five-stars under 2021 and 2019 testing criteria respectively.

4

LDV G10

A five-star ANCAP rating is a crucial requirement for many company fleets in Australia.

It’s worth noting that the safety authority only tested active safety assistance systems, instead of structural and occupant safety as well.

Commercial vans have had a chequered record when it comes to safety – partly due to their older age – despite these vehicles always being on the move to fulfil deliveries.

4

Mitsubishi Express

Last year, Peugeot removed the side thorax airbags from its 2022 model-year Expert van due to the semiconductor shortage, leaving only two remaining in the three-seater cabin.

In 2021, ANCAP controversially gave a zero-star safety rating for the first time on the now-discontinued Mitsubishi Express medium van because of a lack of safety assist tech.

Australians bought 24,420 light and heavy commercial vans last year, which represented 2.2 per cent of overall new vehicle sales in 2022.