Latin American Countries Denied Safer Vehicles

MELBOURNE – Nov 28, 2011: The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) today welcomed the publication of Phase 2 of the Latin American NCAP results but expressed its strong concern over the safety levels of vehicles sold in Latin American countries.

Results include 4 star ratings for the Ford Focus Style, Chevrolet Cruze, and Nissan Tiida, 3 star ratings for the Fiat Patio ELX and the VW Golf Trend, while the Nissan March and the Peugeot 207 only scored a 2 star rating.

These ratings follow the first phase of Latin American NCAP results published in 2010 which included ratings from zero stars for the Geely CK to 4 stars for the Toyota Corolla. 7 other vehicles were rated 1 star in the earlier release including the Peugeot 207, the VW Golf Trend, the Fiat Patio, the Chevrolet Ceita and Corsa Classic, the Ford Ka and the Fiat Novo.

The Chairman of ANCAP, Lauchlan McIntosh, expressed dismay at these poor results and said that vehicle manufacturers needed to do much more to improve the safety of vehicles sold into developing countries.

The results demonstrated many vehicles still without airbags and even more concerning, sub-standard, 20 year old structures.

“At the beginning of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety it is simply not good enough for sub standard, considerably unsafe vehicles to be sold anywhere in the world.

“Road trauma around the world accounts for 3,500 deaths and 100,000 serious injuries every day – the lion’s share of these are in developing countries.

“ANCAP calls on vehicle manufacturers to sell the same 5 star rated vehicles that are sold in Australia to consumers in all countries.”

Latin NCAP is a joint initiative of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the FIA Foundation, the Global New Car Assessment Program (GNCAP), the Fundacion Gonzalo Rodriguez, the Inter-American Development Bank and International Consumer Research & Testing.

ANCAP as Australasia’s leading independent vehicle safety advocate and as a member of GNCAP supports and applauds the work of Latin American NCAP.

ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, the Australian Government, the New Zealand Government, all Australian state governments, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.