Independent vehicle safety rating authority, ANCAP, has today published five-star safety ratings for the LDV MIFA and the NZ-supplied Ford Mustang MACH-E. A four-star ANCAP safety rating has been published for the Honda HR-V.

The traditionally-powered LDV MIFA has been shown to offer comparable safety performance to that of its electric stablemate, the MIFA 9, rated earlier this month, carrying through a five star safety rating for petrol variants. The MIFA people mover recorded maximum points for protection of the driver and small female rear passenger in the full-width frontal test. Full points were also recorded for protection offered to the front seat passenger in the frontal offset test, and the driver in the side impact test. A Marginal score was recorded for protection of the chest of the driver in the oblique pole test.

The Child Occupant Protection score for the MIFA was high (88%), however consumers are advised that child restraints for younger children should not be fitted to the third row centre or right-hand-side seating positions as there are no top-tether anchorages fitted to these seating positions. A high score of 90% was achieved for its collision avoidance capability in the Safety Assist assessment area.

Of interest to New Zealand consumers is the five-star rating awarded to the RWD Select and AWD Premium variants of the Ford Mustang MACH-E. Full points were scored for protection offered to the driver in the side impact and oblique pole tests, as well as child occupants in the side impact and frontal offset tests.

The front structure of the Mustang MACH-E presented a relatively high risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle, and a 3.45 point penalty (out of 4.00 points) was applied. Examining its collision avoidance capability, the Mustang MACH-E offered Good performance for its lane-keeping and autonomous emergency braking ability, however its AEB Backover and driver fatigue systems do not default 'ON' at the start of each journey so points were not awarded in these areas.

Both the petrol and hybrid variants of the Honda HR-V have been rated as four star. The HR-V fell short of five stars in two of the four key areas of assessment – Child Occupant Protection and Safety Assist. A Weak head protection score was recorded for the 10-year old child in the side impact test, and both occupancy detection for rear seating positions and driver fatigue monitoring are not available. Good scores were recorded for the HR-V's lane-keeping and forward-travel autonomous emergency braking ability. AEB Backover functionality is not available.

Full details on each of these ratings can be viewed at www.ancap.com.au