The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has released the results of an audit test that it conducted on the locally-sold Kia Picanto. The previous evaluation of the Korean small car was last conducted in 2011 and the Picanto’s equipment and feature list has altered in the intervening 5 years.
Additionally, new safety regulations mean that the 2011 doesn’t quite hold water in quite the same way, upon which the current Picanto’s 5-star rating. A primary reason why the Kia Picanto sold Down Under in particular has been the subject of scrutiny lies with the more recent safety test conducted in Malaysia by sister test program ASEAN NCAP for units sold in Indonesia, for which it was awarded 0 stars.
That gulf in evaluated vehicle safety prompted ANCAP to revisit their own appraisal. The safety watchdog’s CEO James Goodwin, said: We wanted to confirm the validity of our existing rating for the safety of Australian and New Zealand consumers with the key driver being to provide assurance they can rely on ANCAP information when buying a new car.”
While dummy measurements obtained in the audit test revealed a difference in injury risk classification for driver chest and leg protection (‘Marginal’), the Picanto retains its overall 5 star ANCAP safety rating. The score obtained in the audit test is still within the 5 star range but it is important that consumers are made aware of these findings so they can make an informed decision in this highly competitive market segment.”
Mr Goodwin added that the Picanto, despite retaining its local 5 star safety status, came rather close to having that rating drop to 4 stars. The car scored a 12.95 out of a possible 16 for the frontal offset impact test. That’s still a high enough score to not have one of its stars taken away, but a significant value less than the 15.1 score that it took in the equivalent Euro NCAP test.
Buyers will be glad to know that the small Korean hatch sold locally is still as safe as it was when it began selling in 2011. Kia is due to launch an all-new version of the Picanto in 2017.
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