New Volkswagen Amarok scores five-star safety rating

The new Volkswagen Amarok has been awarded the maximum five-star safety rating courtesy of ANCAP, ahead of its arrival into New Zealand later this year.

It’s a no brainer that the German branded ute scored so highly though, and that’s because it’s based on the Ford Ranger which was also awarded five-stars late last year.

However, the Amarok still had to go through the same testing regime as its blue ovaled counterpart which involved frontal offset and side impact tests.

The model comes equipped with dual frontal, side chest- and head-protecting curtain airbags, as well as a driver and passenger knee airbag. There’s also a centre airbag which protects the front seat occupant’s heads in the case of a side impact.

Good and Adequate scores were recorded for injury risk for adults during crash testing, while some areas were recorded with Marginal performance.

As for Child Occupant Protection, Good levels of protection were observed but ANCAP noted that the installation of child restraints in the centre seat of the second row is not recommended as a top tether anchorage is not fitted in this position.

The Amarok also comes with a suite of safety systems which saw it earn Good scores for its performance in emergency lane keeping, lane keep assist, car-to-car autonomous emergency braking (AEB) tests, and car-to-cyclist AEB tests.

“The dual cab ute segment is always very competitive, and this five-star rating now elevates the VW Amarok in line with its contemporary peers,” said ANCAP CEO, Carla Hoorweg.