Australasia’s independent voice on vehicle safety, Australia New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), has released its first zero star rating.
Following a full suite of crash tests by ANCAP it said the Mitsubishi Express van was unable to qualify for a rating higher than zero due to the absence of active safety systems.
In a statement ANCAP said the vehicle also delivered “marginal performance” in physical crash tests and “lacked basic safety features that consumers have come to expect in a newly released model.”
Mitsubishi announced the withdrawal of the Express van from the Australasian market in 2013. After a seven-year hiatus, a new model was released locally last year.
“Mitsubishi recently introduced the Express into our market, but its specifications do not align with today’s safety expectations,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, Carla Hoorweg.
“Unfortunately, we saw below par performance for protection of occupants and vulnerable road users from the Express, with results lowered even further due to a fundamental lack of active safety systems.”
The zero star rating will see the Mitsubishi Express ineligible for purchase by a wide range of fleets and commercial buyers that require five star rated vehicles.
Test results for the Mitsubishi Express can be viewed online at http://ancap.link/s/ce625a
