Australasia's independent voice on vehicle safety, ANCAP, has today announced a 5 star ANCAP safety rating for all variants of the Mazda BT-50 utility following assessment against the latest and most stringent 2020 test criteria. This closely follows the 5 star ANCAP safety rating achieved by shared platform, the Isuzu D-MAX, last month.
"As the latest release into the high-selling Utilities segment, the Mazda BT-50 provides a comprehensive safety offering to both fleet and private buyers," said ANCAP Director – Communications & Advocacy, Rhianne Robson.
Maximum points apply to the BT-50's protection of adult occupants in the side impact and oblique pole tests. Full points also apply to the protection of child occupants in the frontal offset and side impact tests, with each of the critical body regions assessed offering maximum protection when seated in appropriate child restraints.
Designed and developed in conjunction with Isuzu, hence sharing common structures, drivetrains, passive and active safety features and restraints beneath unique body panels, the ANCAP safety rating for the Mazda BT-50 is predominantly based on ANCAP testing conducted locally on the Isuzu D-MAX together with an evaluation of supplied technical evidence. Additional destructive testing, technical diagrams and modelled results confirmed comparable safety performance across three of the four key areas of ANCAP assessment.
Due to differing front bumper, bonnet and fascia design and styling, supplementary testing of the Mazda BT-50 was conducted by ANCAP to determine any differences in pedestrian protection performance. These additional tests revealed a very slight increase in potential injury risk, with the BT-50 achieving a slightly lower score of 67% in the area of Vulnerable Road User Protection*.
New safety features introduced to the Mazda BT-50 include a centre airbag – to assist in reducing occupant-to-occupant interaction or risk of injury from intrusion on the non-struck side of the vehicle; AEB Junction Assist – to assist in preventing turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle at intersections; and multi-collision braking – to help avoid a secondary impact.
"This top rating underscores the importance placed on safety by Mazda, with all models in its range carrying a 5 star ANCAP safety rating."
"It is reassuring to see the safety of Mazda customers and other road users being prioritised regardless of market segment," Mrs Robson added.
An ISO compliant post-crash rescue sheet has also been submitted for inclusion in the ANCAP RESCUE app – a new requirement of ANCAP's 2020 test protocols to assist with first responder response time in the event of a crash.
* Vulnerable Road User Protection score of 69% achieved by Isuzu D-MAX.