Commodore goes five-star

Its VE Commodore has qualified for the benchmark five-star safety rating awarded by the Australian New Car Assessment Program after a series of upgrades that bring it into line with the Falcon, which got the first five-star tick for a locally-made car earlier this year.

The problem, for the moment, is only the Omega sedan model in the Commodore range is rated as a five-star car.

The missing link for the rest of the Commodore family is a reminder light for the front passenger's seatbelt, something which will be added from January production at the GM Holden factory in Adelaide.

"We have made the commitment that the passenger seatbelt reminder will be standard across the range," Holden spokesperson, Kate Lonsdale, said.

Holden has made a series of safety upgrades to the VE range this year, adding extra side and side-curtain airbags. There is also an energy absorbing panel on the steering column shroud, and the seatbelt reminder on the $37,290 Omega.

"Of course it is disappointing that this five-star result does not apply to all Commodore sedan models, but we are confident Holden will address this next year,” said Michael Case, chief engineer with the RACV, one of the ANCAP partners.

“There was an issue with the lack of a front passenger seat belt reminder on the Commodore, but Holden has undertaken to incorporate these reminders into their production processes through 2009 to ensure other Commodore variants offer the same levels of protection."

While the Commodore has done well, the latest ANCAP crash-test results are not as good for some other makes and models.

The Ford Falcon ute and Honda's compact Jazz both got a four-star rating but the baby Nissan Micra only got a three-star score, no better than the company's four-wheel drive Navara and Isuzu's D-Max ute.

The Jazz missed a five-star tick because the top models with six airbags are not fitted with ESP stability control, which is essential for the top ranking in 2009, while Ford did not submit the ute for the pole-impact test necessary for the top mark.

“ANCAP is still waiting for the breakthrough of a five-star commercial vehicle so that tradespeople, couriers and other such vehicle users can have the same level of safety as company executives,” Case said.

And, once again, the pedestrian safety ratings — a new focus for ANCAP — were below the crash-test score in every case.

The Jazz rated three stars from four for pedestrian protection, the Falcon ute and Micra got two, but the Commodore, Navara and D-Max only got one each.

"These results are clearly disappointing," Case said.

ANCAP SAFETY SCORES December 2008

5 stars:

Holden Commodore Omega

4 stars:

Ford Falcon ute

Honda Jazz

3 stars:

Nissan Micra

Nissan Navara D22 4wd

Isuzu D-Max utility