Hyundai Kona falls short of five-star ANCAP safety rating

The Hyundai Kona has just fallen short of a perfect safety rating, having only earnt four stars in the most recent round of ANCAP testing.

The rating applies to all variants of the Korean SUV, including the petrol, hybrid, and electric.

Mixed results were recorded for the Kona’s performance in destructive crash tests, with maximum points going to the protection of the driver in the side impact and oblique pole tests.

Weak results were recorded for the protection of the driver’s chest in the full-width frontal test, with ANCAP noting that the driver dummy slipped beneath the lap part of the seatbelt in the full-width test.

Mixed results were also recorded for the protection of front seat occupants in the frontal test.

However, the big kicker in the Kona’s four-star safety rating came down to its performance in the ‘Vulnerable Road User Protection’ and ‘Safety Assist’ assessment categories, where vehicles need to achieve 70 per cent or more to earn five stars.

In this case, the Kona scored a respective 64 and 62 per cent in the aforementioned categories.

‘Adequate’ results were recorded for the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system’s recognition of pedestrians and cyclists, while the same result was noted for the performance of the emergency lane keeping (ELK) system.

“Good restraints and structural design attributes that work to reduce the risk of injury to vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and other road users, are key elements in achieving a high ANCAP safety rating,” said Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP Chief Executive Officer.