5 models get 5-star rating in ASEAN NCAP

At the 4th Vehicle Safety Course 2019 held last month in Pasay City, the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia (ASEAN NCAP) staff distributed a book compiling all the results of the vehicles tested since crash testing began in 2012 up to 2018.

The ASEAN NCAP is a non-partisan automotive safety rating program jointly established by the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Global NCAP during the FIA Annual General Assembly in New Delhi in December 2011.

Part of a worldwide effort to reduce road fatalities by 50 percent by 2020 under the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, ASEAN NCAP aims to provide consumers with the information they need to buy the safest car they can afford, and thereby elevate vehicle safety standards in the ASEAN region, build a market for safer vehicles, and recognize the efforts of manufacturers in producing safer vehicles.

ASEAN NCAP is supported by Bloomberg Philantrophies, the FIA Foundation, the Road Safety Fund, and the Towards Zero Foundation.

The automobile associations of Malaysia (AAM), the Philippines (AAP), Cambodia (AAC) and Singapore (AA Singapore) are members of ASEAN NCAP, which began conducting frontal and side impact crash tests in 2012 at MIROS and at cooperating crash laboratories such as the Japan Automobile Research Institute, Korean Transportation Safety Authority, Crashlab Australia and China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd.

CATEGORIES. From 2012 to 2018, ASEAN NCAP subjected 68 vehicles to collision tests: mini cars like the Mitsubishi Mirage and Kia Picanto; small family cars like the Mazda2 and Toyota Vios; medium family cars like the Toyota Corolla Altis and Honda Civic; large family cars like the Nissan Teana and Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid; MPVs like the Mitsubishi Xpander, Toyota Innova and Suzuki Ertiga; SUVs like the Honda CR-V, Ford Everest and Subaru XV; pickup trucks like the Isuzu D-Max and Chevrolet Colorado; small lorries like the Suzuki Carry.

FIRST 2 PROTOCOLS. To date, ASEAN NCAP has conducted more than 79 collision tests with 100 safety ratings. ASEAN NCAP developed two protocols, the first during Phase 1 of ASEAN NCAP tests until 2016 and now the second protocol, started in 2017, is currently running until 2020.

According to ASEAN NCAP Secretary General Dr. Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim, both protocols have different objectives to achieve, based on the automotive and road safety scenario at that particular time.

Phases 1 and 2 were based on two aspects: Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) and Child Occupant Protection (COP). Results of the AOP were solely based on the frontal offset crash test. During these phases, the AOP was in a star rating form while the COP was in percentage form.

Phase 3, which began in 2013, maintained AOP and COP as the main thrust, but Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Seatbelt Reminder System (SBR) for both driver and passengers were set as a prerequisite. Thus, only vehicles fitted with ESC or similar systems but using different names, and also SBR were considered for a 5-star rating. This is with the condition that the tested vehicle achieved a total score within the 5-star range.

The purpose of the prerequisite is to promote the installation of active safety technologies on new models that can prevent a collision from occurring, as well as reduce the severity of injury in case of an accident.

COMBINING 3 SAFETY DOMAINS. A single rating system was developed for the 2017-2020 protocol by combining three safety domains inclusive of safety assist technology (SAT), which previously only acted as a prerequisite to obtain a 5-star AOP rating.

The objective of the single rating system is to eradicate confusion among consumers about the awarded rating, since some manufacturers only use the highest rating of one particular domain for their marketing purposes.

For the new 2017-2020 rating system. ASEAN NCAP allocated 50 percent for AOP, 25 percent for COP and 25 percent for SAT. A large portion of the percentage score lies with AOP, which shows it still plays the leading role in the ASEAN NCAP crash test program.

Although the COP percentage is 25 percent, the total score remains at 49 points. The SAT domain serves as a platform to further strengthen the safety assist technologies for new vehicles.

ASEAN NCAP’s assessment plays a significant role in ensuring that the safety standards of the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations WP.29 are met in the region. Manufacturers who undergo the ASEAN NCAP collision test and meet the specified assessment items should be able to meet the WP.29 standards.

For the 2021-2030 ASEAN NCAP roadmap, Dr. Kassim says, priority will be given to the high number of motorcyclist fatalities in view of the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety indicating that motorized two-three wheelers account for 34 percent of the total number of traffic deaths in the SE Asian region. The new roadmap will focus on reducing the number of motorcyclist fatalities in relation to passenger cars, as well as include safety enhancements for cars such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and advanced seatbelt reminder (SBR) systems on all seats.

5-STAR WINNERS. Listed below are the vehicles which scored 5-star ratings in the 2017-2020 ASEAN NCAP protocol and which are available in the Philippines.

The 2017 TOYOTA VIOS, built in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, was tested in November 2017 and received an overall score of 81.63, equivalent to a 5-Star 2017-2020 ASEAN NCAP rating. The Vios was cited for having seven airbags as standard equipment across all variants, Seatbelt Reminder System (SBR) for front occupants and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) in all its variants.

The 2018 HYUNDAI IONIQ HYBRID scored 46.34 points for Adult Occupancy Protection (AOP), 21.48 points for Child Occupant Protection (COP) and 24.17 points in Safety Assist Technology (SAT) to rack up an impressive overall score of 91.98, one of the highest scores for 5-Star ASEAN NCAP rating.

The 2017 HONDA CR-V, built in Thailand and exported to five SE Asian countries including the Philippines, is equipped with Honda Sensing Technology (six airbags, blind spot technology, driver attention monitor, etc.) in the Malaysian and PH markets. It scored 47.25 points in AOP, 22.84 in COP and 18.71 in SAT to reach 88.80 points overall, or 5-Star 2017-2020 ASEAN NCAP rating.

Under the 2017-2020 rating system, the 2018 TOYOTA RUSH, built in Indonesia and exported to six SE Asian countries including the Philippines, proved the crashworthiness of its structure by scoring 43.25 points for the AOP domain from the full score of 50 points. In the SAT domain, the 2018 Rush is now equipped with six airbags, ESC and SBR for front and rear seat occupants, standard across all variants. Thus the Rush was awarded an overall score of 84.03 points, adding it to the circle of 5-Star ASEAN NCAP winners.

The seven-seater 2018 NISSAN TERRA SUV, built in Thailand for export to six SE Asian countries including the Philippines, scored high in AOP with 44.70 points out of 50 and scored full points in the dynamic test (frontal and side crash test) assessment of the COP domain. The Terra is fitted with six airbags as standard equipment along with ESC, SBR, intelligent rear view mirror, blind spot technology on both sides of the vehicle, plus lane departure warning. The Terra achieved an overall score of 83.17 points to gain the 5-Star ASEAN NCAP rating.

SUMMING UP, scoring a 5-Star ASEAN NCAP rating is a great achievement as it boosts the regional organization’s goals and helps to realize a safer road environment across SE Asian countries. THE END