The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has released safety ratings for three new entrants to the SUV market.

The Hyundai Kona and Holden Equinox both achieved the maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating. The MG ZS secured a 4-star rating.

“SUVs are now the top-selling vehicle segment in Australia and New Zealand and these ratings speak clearly that some are safer than others,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, James Goodwin. “We were impressed earlier this year with the safety performance of MG’s larger GS model – the very first Chinese vehicle to achieve the top safety rating – however its smaller stablemate, the ZS, does not perform as well. Its rating is held back to 4 stars due to sub-par performance in our head-on crash test.”

The MG ZS scored 10.46 points out of 16.00 points in the frontal offset crash test. Insufficient inflation of the passenger airbag caused “bottoming-out” of the dummy head through the airbag and onto the dash, and a penalty was applied. Protection for the driver’s knee area was also insufficient. The ZS does not include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) or lane support features.

The 5-star ANCAP safety rating applies to all Hyundai Kona and Holden Equinox variants. The 4-star rating applies to all MG ZS variants.