ANCAP had recently ran two new cars from two Korean marques through their repertoire of safety tests, the Picanto from Kia and the Elantra from Hyundai. Both of them aced the assessment, scoring five stars each.
Starting with the Hyundai Elantra – introduced in Australia and New Zealand in February - the scores of the tested vehicle applies to all variants of the medium-sized sedan with 35.01 points out of a maximum of 37, comprising of a 14.01 score out of 16 for the frontal offset test and a full 16.00 out of 16 for the side impact test.
It received a pole test of 2 out of 2 while also scored a ‘Good’ for whiplash protection, ‘Acceptable’ for pedestrian protection, and ‘Standard’ for ESC (electronic stability control).
“The Elantra performed well in crash testing and is another sound addition to Hyundai’s fleet which sits well with its competitors in the small passenger vehicle market,” ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Mr James Goodwin, said.
On to the smaller Korean of the pair, the Picanto also impresses with a very strong 34.26 out of a maximum total score of 37. It got a 15.12 out of 16 for the frontal offset test and a 14.14 out of 16 for side impact.
Other scores for the Picanto includes a 2 out of 2 for the pole impact test while it received an ‘Acceptable’ whiplash protection score, a ‘Standard’ for ESC, but only a ‘Marginal’ for pedestrian protection.
“The Kia reinforces that safety should not be restricted by budget with the Picanto providing an affordable 5 star vehicle choice,” said Mr Goodwin.
In the previous batch of test results released, one of the Kia Picanto’s prime rivals, the Holden Spark, also took a 5-star safety rating. Crucially, however, the Kia wins the day with the stronger overall score (33.60 vs the Picanto’s 35.01).
For more on Kia or Hyundai’s full range of vehicles, including prices and specifications, check out our Showroom.
