Grand Cherokee finally gets full ANCAP safety rating

Winner of 4X4 Australia’s 4x4 of the year award in 2011 and 2014, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has finally been awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

The Grand Cherokee, which has undergone significant revisions in its recent lifespan, will now have the maximum safety rating for each V6 produced from March 2013 onwards.

Grand Cherokees from 2011 to 2013 had missed out on the five-star rating by one star, scoring only 9.5 out of 16 in ANCAP’s Frontal Offset category, which tests cars in offset frontal collisions at 64km/h.

ANCAP’s safety reports show that, during the 2011 test, protection from serious chest and leg injury was marginal for drivers of the 2011-2013 vehicles.

Several safety improvements, however, have been made to V6 models built from March 2013 onwards, according to the latest test results, released yesterday.

The car now scores 14.09 out of 16 in the Frontal Offset category, an improvement largely responsible for boosting the car’s overall rating to 34.09 out of 37, up from 29.95 in 2011.

Included as part of the 60 safety and security features now on offer in the car are dual-frontal, side-chest and driver-knee airbags; autonomous emergency braking (AEB); blind-spot monitoring (BSM); and seat belt reminders for the front and back seats.

Also notable is that all Grand Cherokees from 2011 to the present date have scored of 16 out of 16 in ANCAP’s side-impact crash test.

The ANCAP rating follows the car’s recent five-star result in America’s NHTSA crash-test program.

Jeep’s Patriot was also awarded the maximum five-star safety score in 2014.

Jeep Grand Cherokee manufacturer’s list prices

Petrol:

3.6l Laredo, $48,500

3.6l Limited, $58,000

5.7l Limited, $64,000

3.6l Overland, $74,000

5.7l Overland, $74,000

6.4l SRT8, $82,000

Diesel:

3.0l Laredo, $54,500

3.0l Limited, $64,000

3.0l Overland, $74,000

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