Falcon officially gets five (August 2008)
Words -
Mike Sinclair
Ford's FG is officially the first-ever locally built five-star car
Ford Australia's FG Falcon is the first-ever locally-produced car to gain a five-star rating under the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). The announcement was made today alongside the Falcon production line at Ford's Broadmeadows factory by local company chief, Bill Osbourne, and ANCAP Chair, Lachlan McIntosh.
Though news the car had grabbed the top-ranking crash score leaked earlier this week, today's announcement was the first official confirmation of the score.
The five-star rating applies to petrol-engined sedan variants of the FG only. The ute and cab chassis versions are yet to be tested and, as a carry-over BF variant, the wagon does not achieve the rating. LPG-engined versions of the FG are excluded as they do not offer stability control. Stability control became prerequisite for a five-star rating at the start of this year.
Falcon's entry-level XT variant was the version ANCAP tested and achieved the five-star rating. At least in part justifying Ford's decision not to fit curtain airbags as standard equipment across the full FG range, the five-star rating was achieved by the fleet model fitted with Ford's head and chest protecting side airbags, not full side curtain bags.
Curtain airbags are standard on higher series FG models and a $300 option on the XT.
The petrol XT achieved a total score of 34.6 points out of a possible 37 points, outperforming its key local large car segment competitors, Holden's Commodore and the Toyota Aurion.
The FG's tally is the highest score ever recorded by a locally-produced car by a significant margin, says Ford. It also places it in the top 7 per cent of all published ANCAP results, as well as in the top quarter of published ANCAP five-star results, the company claimed.
ANCAP's testing awarded the Falcon 14.6 points in the Offset Frontal crash test. This compares to 11.5 and 13.6 points for the Commodore and Aurion respectively. The Ford also registered maximum score on the side impact and pole test (see table below).
Not all of ANCAP's comments were complimentary, however. Though better than the previous generation Falcon, ANCAP rated the FG's pedestrian protection at just two (out of four) stars. That said, it scored 10.95 points out of a maximum 36 -- this compares well to just 8.98 (one star) and 7.76 (one star) for the Holden and Toyota large cars. (Note: ANCAP does not attribute child safety ratings like the European NCAP.)
"I have great pleasure in announcing the new Falcon is the safest vehicle manufactured in Australia and it has the stars to prove it," announced Osborne at the kick-off of today's safety soiree.
"The petrol FG Falcon sedan range has been judged by ANCAP as being the safety leader among locally-manufactured vehicles. It cements Ford's long standing reputation for safety leadership in Australia," he said.
"Not only is the FG Falcon the safest vehicle ever produced in this country, it is also competitive with the safest sedans in the world.
"These safety test results add further validation to the extensive crash simulation process and physical crash test program conducted by Ford Australia for the FG Falcon, which was the most comprehensive in the company's history," Osborne opined. (More on the FG's safety story here
Osborne stressed that Ford's key design attributes for the FG were related to real world safety but said the carmaker would use the ANCAP imprimatur to help separate its products from key competitors. Expect plenty of marketing money to be spent on the FG's new 'credentials' over the next few weeks.
The Ford boss said the company would label all of its five-star cars (Mondeo and Focus get five stars in Euro NCAP testing) in the showroom, but stopped short of committing to apply safety rating labelling -- ANCAP's so-called 'Stars on Cars' program -- to the full Ford fleet.
ANCAP RATINGS
FG Falcon VE Commodore Toyota Aurion
Offset frontal 14.6 11.5 13.6
Side impact 16.0 15.0 15.4
Bonus points 2.0 1.0 1.0
Pole test 2.0 Not eligible Not tested
Final score 34.6 points 27.5 points 30.0 points
RATING 5-star 4-star 4-star
Comparison - European vehicles
Vehicle ANCAP star rating ANCAP score
Ford FG Falcon (08-on) 5-star 34.60 points
Volvo V70 (08-on) 5-star 34.20 points
VW Passat (05-on) 5-star 33.99 points
Citroen C6 (06-on) 5-star 33.81 points
Peugeot 407 (04-on) 5-star 33.66 points
Audi A6 (04-on) 5-star 33.30 points
Mercedes-Benz E-Class 220CDi (04-on) 5-star 32.95 points
Saab 9-5 (03-on) 5-star 32.56 points
Land Rover Range Rover (02-on) 4-star 29.87 points
BMW 5 Series (03-on) 4-star 28.88 points
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Originally Posted by Rockefella
