Mitsubishi Express slammed in crash test

Japanese make’s version of French model first to earn a ‘zero’ score from NZ-accredited ANCAP procedure.

HAVING a swag of safety ingredients has not kept a Mitsubishi van selling here from achieving the poorest outcome ever from a crash test funded by New Zealand agencies.

The damning ‘zero star’ assessment of the Express has come from the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme.

The announcement from Melbourne-based ANCAP, whose funders on this side of the Tasman include Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and New Zealand Automobile Association, has caused controversy in Australia.

Critics there have pointed out that the Renault Trafic that is identical to the Mitsubishi save for minor details that have no bearing on crash testing has a three star rating, issued by ANCAP’s European equivalent, NCAP, in 2015. 

ANCAP, in turn, has said the Express, a popular choice for commercial fleets and private tradespeople, was unable to qualify for a rating higher than zero due to the absence of active safety systems.  

“The Express also delivered marginal performance in physical crash tests and lacks basic safety features that consumers have come to expect in a newly released model.” 

Mitsubishi Motors NZ has offered no comment about the ANCAP rating and neither has the Motor Industry Association, which acts for new vehicle distributors.

When Express was announced last year there was clear confidence from within Porirua-based MMNZ that it would prove to be far more robust than the its forebear, the L300 discontinued in 2015.

The Mitsubishi-designed and built L300 had only basic safety features and that showed in its rating. 

The Express matches its Renault counterpart in having six airbags, roll over mitigation, stability and traction control, anti-lock braking system and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD).

Both versions fall behind some category players in lacking automated emergency braking. Blind spot detection and driver fatigue monitoring are also absent.

The Express would have only been eligible to share the Trafic’s NCAP rating had it introduced within two years of the original model.

Though the agencies are linked and work to common protocols, the testing process has toughened. Express was tested to 2020 ANCAP protocols, involving a series of crash tests against moving and fixed barriers – conducted in Australia from October 2020 to January 2021.

These showed the adult occupant protection offered by the Express had  ‘marginal’ protection for the driver’s chest and upper legs and ‘adequate’ protection for the lower legs. Protection was rated as ‘good’ for other critical body regions.

ANCAP noted ‘a high risk of neck injury was recorded for the driver in the whiplash test.’

 In a side impact pole test, chest protection for the driver was rated as ‘marginal’ and a penalty was applied because the latch on the cargo sliding door disengaged on impact. In another side impact test, the cargo sliding door deformed and created a large opening.