2024 Hyundai Kona Secures Four-Star ANCAP Rating Amid Tougher Safety Standards

The 2024 Hyundai Kona, a compact SUV, has been awarded a four-star safety rating by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). This rating, consistent with the vehicle's European NCAP score, applies across all Kona variants, including petrol, hybrid, and electric models. The assessment, which utilized the latest and more stringent 2023 test protocols, marks a decline from the five-star rating the previous Kona model achieved in 2017 under less rigorous criteria.

In detail, the 2024 Kona attained 64% in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category and 62% in Safety Assist technology. These scores, though marginally better than its European results, were insufficient to reach the 70% threshold required for a five-star overall rating. Notably, if the Kona had scored below 60% in either of these categories, it would have been relegated to a three-star rating.

It's worth noting the Kona showcases notable strengths in its crashworthiness and occupant protection.

For Adult and Child Occupant Protection, the Kona scored 80% and 84%, respectively. These results exceed the minimum 80% requirement for a five-star rating. However, ANCAP's overall rating is limited by the vehicle's lowest-performing category, resulting in a four-star designation for the Hyundai Kona.

The SUV demonstrated commendable stability in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, ensuring the passenger compartment's integrity. In side impact and oblique pole tests, the Hyundai Kona offered maximum protection, scoring full points for safeguarding all critical body regions. This level of protection is crucial in real-world accidents, where side impacts can often result in severe injuries.

The four-star rating reflects the Kona's "adequate" performance in key active safety areas, including its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system for pedestrians and cyclists, and emergency lane-keep assist function.

The vehicle also displayed "good" performance in AEB technology for preventing motorcycle collisions. However, mixed results were observed in crash testing, with the protection of the driver's chest in a full-width frontal crash test marked as "weak." Moreover, a higher risk of abdominal injury was noted due to the driver dummy slipping beneath the seatbelt in this test.

ANCAP highlighted that achieving a high safety rating requires effective restraints and structural design to minimize injury risks to vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and other road users. However, differences in scoring between European and Australasian models were noted, particularly in the speed assistance system's performance.

Comparing the language used by ANCAP and Euro NCAP for four-star vehicles, ANCAP describes such cars as providing an "adequate" safety level but falling short in key areas, potentially posing higher injury risks in some scenarios.

In contrast, Euro NCAP views four-star cars as offering "overall good performance in crash protection" with additional crash avoidance technology possibly present.

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