Why do PH cars have fewer safety features than ASEAN models?

By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza April 22,2015

honda-crv-airbagsAt the 36th  Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS) last month, I was impressed when I  read in the press kit of the new Ford Everest that it has seven airbags: “Front, side, curtain and knee airbags for added peace of mind in the event of a collision.”

The same new Everest was previewed at the 11th Manila International Motor Show (MIAS) earlier this month by Ford Group Philippines. However, the brochure distributed to MIAS visitors did not specify how many airbags the Everest to be sold here will have.
Since the Everest is scheduled to arrive by November, Ford Asean will have plenty of time to decide which safety features should be included in the Philippine model—whether to provide full-spec (all the specifications) or de-spec (only some.)

The disparity in specs shows up in other ways. In the March 23, 2015, Bangkok Post, a half-page advertisement of the new Ford Ranger (which had its global launch at the 36th BIMS) showed the Ranger models starting from 2011. The 2011 Ranger sold in Thailand was shown and touted as “the safest” pickup since it has six airbags. If memory serves, the 2011 Ranger sold here had only two airbags.

During an open forum of Ford with the press at the 36th BIMS, I questioned the disparity in the number of safety features between vehicles that are sold in advanced markets like Australia and in emerging markets like the Philippines. After the forum, a high-ranking regional Ford executive told me that Ford follows the NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) requirements of whatever market they are in, or what the consumers in that market want.

WHAT CONSUMERS WANT. He said that the Ford Fiesta sold in Malaysia and Vietnam has seven airbags because that is what the consumers in Malaysia and Vietnam want. The Fiesta sold in the Philippines has driver and passenger airbags only.

I wonder: Does this mean that Malaysian and Vietnamese consumers are more safety-conscious than Filipino consumers?

Anyway, the 2012 Fiesta with seven airbags won five stars, the top score, for adult protection in the frontal off-set crash tests conducted by the Asean NCAP at 64 kilometers per hour.

In child safety ratings, the Fiesta scored 66 percent, second to the Honda City’s 81 percent.

The 2012 Honda City tested had only two airbags but also achieved five stars for adult occupant protection.

The frontal off-set crash tests were based on the 40-percent impact crash test regulation of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (UN Economic Commission for Europe Reg. 94) but at a speed of 64 kph. The test protocol and procedures followed those of the European NCAP covering the protection of both adult and child.

To be eligible for a five-star rating in the Asean NCAP, a vehicle must have at least two airbags, electronic stability control and a seatbelt reminder. The Asean NCAP tests are conducted in the crash test laboratory of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) in collaboration with the Global NCAP (GNCAP) with technical support from the latter, the Euro NCAP and Australian NCAP. It supports the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 which strives to cut in half the increase in road fatalities by 2020.

ON-ROAD DEATHS. Every year, 1.24 million people die on roads worldwide and some 50 million are injured, with 80 percent of the deaths taking place in middle-income countries and 12 percent in low-income countries, even though together they account for about only half of the world’s vehicles.

The Asean NCAP was formed in December 2011 by GNCAP and Miros to establish a pilot project aimed at elevating motor vehicle safety standards in the Southeast Asian region and encouraging a market for safer vehicles.

The signatories to the Asean NCAP protocol, including the Automobile Associations of the Philippines (AAP), Malaysia and Singapore, are concerned that the 10 Asean countries are facing a growing burden of road death and injury due to rapid motorization in the region.

Initial funding for the pilot project comes from a grant from GNCAP with additional sources of funding to be explored from possible partners such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and automobile clubs affiliated with the FIA. To ensure complete independence, car manufacturers are not eligible for participation in the stakeholder group.

A GUIDE. The NCAP ratings serve as a guide to consumers regarding the road safety worthiness of the cars they intend to buy and offer  an incentive to carmakers to produce safer cars. Asean NCAP is aware of the different safety features between the specific models car manufacturers sell in their region and those exported to or assembled in the Asean countries.

Since cars sold in Asean have fewer safety features in order to attain a lower selling price, the test results of Euro NCAP are not applicable to the same model cars sold in the Asean. This disparity created the need for an Asean NCAP.

Last week, Global NCAP and the Unece (United Nations Economic Commission of Europe) released the results of a study showing that millions of new cars sold in middle- and low-income countries fail to meet the UN’s basic front and side crash tests. It illustrated the importance that crash tests play in ensuring road safety and the different levels of safety between cars sold in emerging markets and in advanced economies.

LESS SAFE. “We cannot accept that cars sold in middle and low income countries be deliberately less safe than those sold in developed countries,” said Unece executive secretary Christian Friis Bach. “I therefore call on the motor industry as a whole to ensure that well-established safety standards be applied to all vehicles sold worldwide. I also urge all UN member states to ratify and fully apply the UN legal instruments on road safety, in particular the UN technical regulations for the construction of vehicles.”

Global NCAP secretary general David Ward said: “By the end of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) at the latest, we want all new cars to meet basic standards for both crash protection and crash avoidance. They must have crumple zones, air bags and electronic stability control. Our latest report sets out 10 clear recommendations to meet the deadline, and we are convinced that this timetable is both realistic and affordable.”

For more than 50 years, the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations has negotiated and adopted UN vehicle regulations aimed at reinforcing car safety. The World Forum has incorporated into its regulatory framework the technological innovations of vehicles to make them safer and more environmentally sound.

These cover, among others, the safety performance of vehicles for front and side impacts (UN Regulations No. 94 and 95), pedestrian safety (UN Regulation No. 128), and the safety of electric vehicles and their high-voltage batteries (UN Regulation No. 100.)

Meanwhile, the dangerous disparity remains: some vehicles are built safer in other countries than over here. Now, you know why. As the sales brochures of carmakers invariably declare in fine print at the bottom, “Manufacturer reserves the right to change specifications without prior notice.”

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