ANCAP weighs in on large pickups

Transcript

00:00ANCAP Safety has been testing passenger cars, utes and SUVs since the early 1990s and over that time

00:15we've been instrumental in improving the safety of these vehicles. What we've seen with utes is

00:20that they are the workhorse of the Australian fleet and over the years that ANCAP's been

00:25operating the safety of these vehicles has really improved with many of them now getting

00:29five-star ratings. In recent times we've seen larger pickups come to market and they're offering

00:36consumers a lot of choice so what we're looking at with this program is the safety of those vehicles

00:42so that consumers understand what they're looking at and what the relative safety of those vehicles is.

00:48In this first look comparison we've put five of Australia's popular large utes to the test.

00:54The Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series.

01:04This market segment has seen a steep rise in popularity in recent years with sales of the Ram truck,

01:10Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra increasing by 270 percent since 2019.

01:19As an inaugural program our aim is to shine a light on the active safety performance of these larger

01:25utes, how they can detect and avoid a crash with another car, pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist.

01:31Traditionally designed for towing, larger utes are now commonly seen in general everyday use.

01:38They're driven by families and tradespeople in metropolitan areas as well as on rural and regional

01:45roads. As these vehicles mix with a range of other vehicles and road users, this first look

01:51comparison focuses on their ability to avoid a crash. We put each of these large utes through a

01:58broad range of crash avoidance tests on our test track to assess their performance across a range of

02:04common on-road scenarios. Testing undertaken on each vehicle averaged 180 tests across 48 different

02:12scenarios. As this is an ADAS-focused assessment program, performance gradings are awarded either

02:18platinum, gold, silver, bronze or not recommended. With these benchmark results now available,

02:25we expect to see additional gradings become available for a number of other models,

02:30providing consumers with additional comparison and choice. Using the learnings from these comparisons,

02:36we are developing a framework for future testing and assessment. Areas we are keen to explore as our

02:42work with large utes progresses include physical crash protection as well as direct and indirect vision.