Asia-made Cars do Poorly in Crash Test

BEIJING, March. 9, 2005; Chinaview reported that Ford Motor Co's Focus and six vehicles made by Asian automakers were removed from Consumer Reports magazine's list of recommended cars after receiving "poor" ratings in crash tests by an insurance group.

The Focus had been one of the magazine's 10 "top picks" in its annual auto issue and the only model from a US automaker in that group. The Focus and 13 other small cars received "poor" grades in crashes on the sides of cars in results released last night by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of Arlington, Virginia.

Consumer Reports also removed six other autos, all built by Asian automakers, from its list of recommended cars because of the tests, according to a statement issued late on Monday.

The magazine has never before stripped a vehicle of a "top pick" rating, said David Champion, senior director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, in Yonkers, New York. One-third of US auto shoppers consult the magazine, according to Forrester Research of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Focus would not have been removed if no small cars had earned an "acceptable" rating on the side-crash tests, Champion said. Two of 16 cars tested did: General Motor's Corp's Chevrolet Cobalt and Toyota Motor Corp's Corolla.

Those cars passed after each automaker requested a second test be done with optional side air bags installed at the automakers' expense. "The Corolla without side air bags actually did poorly, as did the Chevrolet Cobalt," Champion said.

The six other vehicles removed from the April issue's recommended list are Hyundai Motor Co's Elantra, Mazda Motor Corp's Mazda3, Nissan Motor Co's Altima, Honda Motor Co's Element, Mitsubishi Motors Corp's Outlander and Suzuki Motor Corp's Grand Vitara/XL-7.

The removals reduce the number of vehicles recommended by Consumer Reports to 73. Enditem

(Source: Bill Koenig and Barbara Powell/China Daily)