After a disastrous 2-star ANCAP safety score was published in January 2017, the 2018 Ford Mustang has marginally improved its safety rating by one star with ANCAP awarding a 3-star safety rating.
Improvements made to the Australian and New Zealand right-hand-drive Ford Mustangs include the standard fitment of autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning and a lane support system which includes both lane departure warning and lane keeping assist technology.
These improvements have seen the original rating of 16 per cent for Safety Assist now raised to 61 per cent as well as the Pedestrian Protection score raised to 78 per cent from 64 per cent.
ANCAP Chief Executive, Mr James Goodwin, states this isn’t enough though, “Structurally, however, the revised Ford Mustang is identical to the Mustang we originally rated, meaning it still falls short of our expectations in the areas of Adult Occupant and Child Occupant Protection.”
“The inclusion of driver assistance aids such as AEB and lane keep assist is a definite step in the right direction, yet these upgrades have neglected to address the injury risk posed to rear seat occupants as well as whiplash protection,” Mr Goodwin said.
The areas of Adult Occupant and Child Occupant Safety achieved scores of 72 per cent and 32 per cent respectively.
In reading ANCAP’s assessment, the risk of serious injury for rear passengers will remain, as will the low score until Ford address the Mustang’s structural weaknesses.
Fastback (V8 and EcoBoost coupe) variants manufactured from December 2017 are covered by the new 3-star ANCAP safety rating with other models remaining unrated.
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