The budget Great Wall Steed ute has scored a shocking two stars in the latest round of ANCAP crash testing, against the 2016 ratings criteria.
In response, Great Wall Motors Australia said it was disappointed, but accepted it needed to improve to meet our market’s standards.
The independent crash-test body gave the Chinese load carrier an overall truncated score of 16.49 out of 37, though cautions the score only applies to the 4×2 petrol dual-cab range entry point (the diesel was not tested).
Despite the fitment of six airbags and electronic stability control, ANCAP found that the performance of the core body structure was not up to snuff.
It scored a perfect 4/4 for head and neck protection, and full marks for its side-impact performance, but was deemed ‘marginal’ for whiplash protection and was barred form the pole-test because of its front-offset score.
Excessive footwell deformation, separation of footwell panels and pedal displacement was observed in the frontal offset crash test, ANCAP reported.
Steering column components were deemed a potential source of knee injury for the driver, and dash components were a potential injury source for both the driver and passenger.
“Despite claims from the vehicle brand that the Chinese dual cab is ‘all-new’ and offers ‘outstanding levels of performance, value, safety and comfort,’ the underpinnings of the Steed differ little to that of the previous-generation dual-cab ute which carried the V240 model name,” ANCAP CEO James Goodwin stated.
“This is a disappointing result for consumers and the brand… ANCAP is urging consumers in the market for a new car to be wary of such claims.”
The lack of top-tether child restraint anchorages fitted also means ANCAP suggests not carrying kids in back row.
Speaking in response, Great Wall Motors Australia said it was disappointed by the Steed’s performance.
Spokesperson Andrew Ellis claimed the company was taking “immediate steps” to see what could be done to rectify the situation.
“We have sent all the data to our engineering team in head office and set up a response team to investigate what needs to be done to improve the ANCAP performance of our product,” he stated.
“We thought the additional safety features would help improve the Steed’s ANCAP rating. It’s clear to everyone in the organisation our ANCAP test standards need a dramatic improvement.”
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