Australasia's independent vehicle safety authority, ANCAP, has released 5 star ANCAP safety ratings for the Mercedes-Benz GLE and Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
The Mercedes-Benz GLE achieved a mix of Good and Adequate scores for driver and passenger protection across the full frontal, frontal offset, side impact and whiplash tests, with a Marginal reading recorded for protection of the driver's chest in the oblique pole test.
"The standout area of performance was Child Occupant Protection where it achieved the highest score to date at 92%," said ANCAP Chief Executive, James Goodwin.
"This result for the GLE is encouraging," he said.
A range of active driver assistance features including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), a lane support system with lane keep assist and emergency lane keep functionality, and blind spot monitor are also fitted as standard.
The 5 star ANCAP safety rating applies to all Australian and New Zealand variants including the GLE 300d, GLE 450 and GLE 400d.
The distinctive on- and off-road G-Class 4WD SUV also achieved 5 stars, with full points scored for adult and child occupants in side crash scenarios. Good levels of performance were also recorded in tests of its AEB functionality.
An area identified as needing improvement was chest protection, with elevated injury readings recorded by the driver and rear passenger in frontal impacts.
"Mercedes has done the right thing by their customers in offering 5 star safety for this category of vehicle," Mr Goodwin said.
The 5 star rating currently only applies to the G 63 (4.0 litre V8 petrol) variant. The G-Class Professional is not equipped with the same safety equipment and is not covered by this rating.
EDITORS NOTE: A Euro NCAP rating for the European-supplied Tesla Model 3 will be published by Euro NCAP today. ANCAP is currently assessing the Australian / New Zealand Model 3 for local rating applicability.