Why MG5 and Mahindra Scorpio Get Zero ANCAP Safety Stars

ANCAP released local testing results for MG 5 sedan and Mahindra Scorpio SUV and the news was not good.

New cars and SUVs sold in Australia are among the safest in the world, and ANCAP and Euro NCAP assess vehicles against set criteria. There are physical crash tests with the proverbial crash test dummy, and a set of active and passive safety features, some of which are essential for a 5 star rating.

Take centre airbags for example: it is not necessary for a rating, it is the performance of the front passengers in crash tests, especially from the side, that really count. A large SUV like Toyota Land Cruiser has so much space between the front seats that a centre airbag would not improve crash performance, as the driver and passenger are less likely to hit each other in an incident. Small cars need a comfy pillow to stop people bumping heads.

Both cars mentioned above have very poor performance in physical crash protection and active collision avoidance performance.  ANCAP says that many safety features that have been commonplace in new cars for many years were not installed.

“Both brands have misjudged the safety expectations of today’s consumers,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

The MG 5 got poor results in chest and leg protection for the driver in the frontal offset test. Similarly, poor protection for the chest and legs of the rear passengers in the full width frontal test.  Furthermore, MG5 received penalties for chest deflection and seatbelt loading exceeding injury limits, and hazards behind the dashboard structure.

ANCAP went on to say, “Loading on the head and neck of the child dummies in the MG 5 was significantly higher than seen in most current generation vehicles, with Weak results seen for three of the four dummies across both the frontal and side impact tests – indicating a lack of design effort to prevent rear-seat occupant injury in frontal impact and side impact scenarios.”

There are no seatbelt pre-tensioners or load limiters for seatbelts on the base MG5 Vibe, nor on the rear seatbelts of the MG5 Essence variant. There is no centre airbag, lane support, or blind spot monitor, and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) was limited or unavailable. Less importantly, there is no driver alertness monitor or a warning for children left the back seats by accident.

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ABOVE: Zero ANCAP Star safety rating for Mahindra Scorpio and MG 5

Mahindra Scorpio’s results were mixed. Adults in the frontal offset, full width frontal, side impact and oblique pole crash tests had a mix of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, Weak and Poor protection

There was a high risk of serious injury for the head, neck and chest of the rear female passenger in the full width frontal test, and there was a penalty for high seatbelt loading.

During the side impact test, the driver’s seatbelt unlatched when the seatbelt pre-tensioner went of just before the crash.  Although it had no impact on the score, ANCAP reported the incident to Mahindra so they could look into the matter.

Mahindra Scorpio is a 3-row SUV, but the side curtain airbags are first and second rows, and there are no top tether child restraint points in the 3^rd row. 3^rd row seats are usually fairly cosy, and is the place where children would normally ride. These results mean young children cannot use the 3^rd row.

There is no centre airbag in the front, something now required for full scores.

Scorpio comes as a 6-seater in Australia, with a 7 seat option in New Zealand.  The 7-seat version has a lap-only seatbelt in the 2row’s centre seat, something not seen in most new vehicles for over 10 years.

Most buyers would want as much protection as possible, and AEB is now as basic as crash avoidance gets. Mahindra Scorpio has no active collision avoidance features, so got 0% for this criterion.

“The MG 5 and Mahindra Scorpio were both released into the Australian and New Zealand new car markets for the first time this year, yet it’s clear that their safety offerings are some generations behind what we see with almost every new car on sale today.”

“This is a stark reminder that not all cars offer the same level of safety – even when they’re brand new models.”

“Market competition is healthy and encouraged, however there is also a well-established expectation from Australian and New Zealand private consumers and fleet buyers that new cars entering our market offer the best levels of safety.”

“With our independent test results now to hand, we hope to see significant improvements made to these models to have them more closely align with the safety credentials offered by their competitors,” said Ms Hoorweg.

Score thresholds for all star rating levels (2023-2025 criteria):