SUBARU’S LATEST Liberty and Outback  family cars have passed ANCAP’s rigorous crash testing program with flying colours, each scoring a full 5-Star safety rating.

Both Liberty and Outback received 34.8 points out of a possible 37 for occupant protection, and also scored three out of four stars in pedestrian impact testing.

Both cars scored highly thanks [...]

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EDGING OUT its competitors in a close-fought battle, the 2009 Holden Cruze has been ranked by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program as the safest car under $25,000, with a score of 35.04.

The Ford Focus (34.46) and Fiesta (34.44), Mazda2 (34.33) and Hyundai i30 SLX (32.54) filled out the top five safest cars under $25,000 [...]

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THE MERCEDES-BENZ VITO has been declared the safest commercial vehicle on sale in Australia, after scoring a full 5-Stars in the Australian New Car Assessment Program’s rigorous crash safety test.

This puts the Vito (and its passenger-hauling sister, the Viano) ahead of the Hyundai iLoad, Volkswagen Caddy and Volkswagen Transporter, all of which have 4-Star ANCAP [...]

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LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES with low ANCAP safety ratings should be considered a serious occupational health and safety concern by companies buying work vehicles for employee use, the Australian New Car Assessment Program said in a report this week.

In all states in Australia, a vehicle used in the performance of work is recognised as a ‘workplace’, [...]

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HYUNDAI’S iLoad van and eight-seat iMax people-mover have been awarded 4-Star occupant safety ratings in recent ANCAP tests (for vehicles with a March 2009-build onwards).

In a sector that has traditionally lagged behind passenger vehicles for both passive and dynamic safety features, this will come as encouraging news for tradespeople and for fleet and family buyers.

Those [...]

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CRASH TEST groups from around the world, including members of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), met in Germany this week to explore opportunities for sharing crash test data and results.

The meeting between ANCAP and other NCAP groups follows discussions earlier this year on crash test regulations, which the Australian Automobile Association hopes [...]

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SUZUKI’S TINY ALTO city car has achieved a respectable four-star rating under the Australasian New Car Assessment Program’s rigorous crash testing regime.

The Alto, which goes on sale nationwide on August 1, will come standard with a segment-leading six airbags, with two front, two side and two full-length curtain airbags keeping passengers out of harm’s way.

ABS [...]

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Holden has announced that its upcoming small car, the Korean-sourced Cruze, has passed the Australasian New Car Assesment Program’s rigorous tests with flying colours, earning itself a five-star rating in the process.

The 2009 Holden Cruze scored 35.04 points out of a possible 37 under ANCAP’s recently revised testing regime, with its high level of passive [...]

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Subaru has announced that its new generation Subaru Forester and EXIGA have received the top six-star crashworthiness ratings for occupant safety in testing conducted by the Japan New Car Assessment Program (JNCAP).

JNCAP testing is conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism along with the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims [...]

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There are now more reasons to give the local FG Falcon a serious eyeball if you’re in the market for a stylish and, in our opinion, superbly engineered larger car.

Ford Australia has announced improvements to the Falcon’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, and, joining its petrol-engined siblings, five-star ANCAP safety rating for the Falcon E-Gas [...]

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The latest Australian-made car to score a maximum five star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), is GM Holden’s VE Omega Sportwagon.

Being packed with safety features no-doubt helped the Sportwagon achieve the five star rating.

Standard safety features found across the VE Sportwagon range including six airbags, rear park assist and Electronic [...]

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Good news on the car safety front. From 2009 onwards, any car tested under the rigorous Euro NCAP program must be fitted with electronic stability control if it’s to have any hope of scoring a five-star rating. Recognising that perhaps the best means of reducing on-road fatalities is to avoid crashes altogether, [...]

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