Safety of vans assessed

ANCAP has issued gradings for five commercial vans to ensure buyers can weigh up safety alongside load capacity as online deliveries continue to thrive.

It has given platinum awards to the Kia PV5 Cargo and Volkswagen’s Transporter, and gold to Peugeot’s Boxer and two Fiats – the Ducato and Scudo, under its commercial van safety comparison.

This system is undertaken as a parallel information programme to ANCAP’s traditional star rating so consumers and fleet managers can compare the availability and performance of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) for NA and NB category vehicles.

Having just made its debut across the Tasman, the PV5 Cargo had an overall performance score of 91 per cent. The seventh-generation Transporter, pictured above, topped that with 93 per cent, which aligns it with Ford’s Transit Custom. Both have “the same, well-rounded ADAS system”.

The Scudo has secured an ANCAP safety grading for the first time with 67 per cent. As with all other vans in this latest assessment batch, it comes with autonomous braking, emergency lane keeping, blind-spot monitoring, speed assistance and a driver-monitoring system. 

Its performance across these systems, however, was “mixed, offering reduced overall capability to that of the Cargo and Transporter”.

Model twins the Boxer and Ducato, which are larger NB category vans, scored 77 per cent. ANCAP says four of the five vans lack reverse emergency braking, a safety feature designed to help reduce the risk of reversing incidents in the busy, built-up areas these vehicles often frequent.