A high purchasing trend of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) can be seen among ASEAN vehicle consumers. With new support from Bloomberg Philantrophies, ASEAN NCAP has progressively performing crash tests on several SUV models offered in the ASEAN market. This is to ensure the safety levels of these SUVs meet the minimum requirement of United Nations safety standards.
Toyota Rush is the first SUV model under the Toyota brand recently tested by ASEAN NCAP. The tested variant is from Indonesia and it is the first vehicle tested with i-CRS child seat comprising ISOFIX. Although there is no Electronic Stability Control (ESC) available in this vehicle, the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) is standard across all variants. Toyota Rush scored 4-Star for Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) with 12.47 points and Child Occupant Protection (COP) with 4-Star at 82% compliance. Rush is only available for the Indonesian and Malaysian market. It shares similar body with Daihatsu Terios, however specification and safety performance might be different between these two brands.
Another SUV that ASEAN NCAP had tested is Great Wall Motor’s (GWM) Haval M4. The China-based automaker SUV achieved a 3-Star for AOP at 9.64 points, and a 4-Star for its COP score with 79% compliance. Previously ASEAN NCAP had tested vehicles produced by other Asian regions except for China, hence made GWM as the first China brand car tested by ASEAN NCAP. One plus point of this model is that it is an energy efficient vehicle, which is not only environmental friendly, but also helps in reducing fuel consumption. Produced by Go Auto Malaysia for the Malaysian market, Haval M4 is currently the most affordable SUV in Malaysia.
These two crash tests marked the seventh instalment of crash test for SUV, making it the leading category in ASEAN NCAP crash tests.
The following are the gists of Toyota Rush and GWM Haval M4 results.
- Toyota Rush achieved 4-Star for both AOP and COP, with 12.47 points AOP and 82% compliance for for COP. GWM Haval M4 attained a 3-Star for AOP with the score of 9.64 and 4-Star for COP (79% compliance).
- Rush achieved a relatively well result for COP with 82% compliance, which precedes all SUV models tested by ASEAN NCAP except for Honda CR-V that obtained 86% compliance for COP.
- Haval M4’s AOP score is relatively low compared to the rest of ASEAN NCAP’s SUV line-up but Haval M4’s COP score at 79% compliance, is reasonably good and toppled three of its SUV rivals, Honda HR-V (73% compliance), Subaru XV (67%) and Pajero Sport (40% compliance).
- ISOFIX and top tether for child safety seats is equipped for the tested variant. Seatbelt Reminder (SBR) for driver and front passenger is a standard for both variants.
