Tradie utes' two-star safety slammed

... should have the same safety standards as any family car, according to a safety expert. RACQ technical officer Steve Spalding says the two-star performance of dual-cab utes by Mahindra and Great Wall are not good enough. 

The Australia New Car Assessment Program this week released safety ratings for several cars, including the Mahindra Pik-Up dual-cab ute, which still rates only two stars despite fitting two front airbags since it was last assessed.  It joins the Great Wall SA220 dual-cab ute on a lowly two stars out of five. 

"These cars are genuine dual-purpose vehicles, often used as lifestyle vehicles running the family around in them at the weekend," Spalding says.  "They are the new family car, so people should rightly expect better performance. They should have all the safety features of any late-model car." 

Another car that performed badly in the ANCAP results was the Chinese-made Geely MK.  "People do buy on price and will choose a budget-priced car like this, but they don't have to forgo safety. Just look at the Barina and Micra," Spalding says. 

The new Holden Barina hitting the showrooms this week scored five stars while the Nissan Micra scored four.  "These scores show you can still buy an affordable car with high levels of safety," he says.  "For Holden this is a great news story as they've turned around what was a low two-star score about four years ago." 

Other vehicles to score five stars in the latest ANCAP results are the Audi A6 and BMW X3, while the Citreon Berlingo and Renault Kango rated four stars.  ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, the Australian Government, the New Zealand Government, all Australian state governments, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.