ANCAP, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program, crash-tests new vehicles sold in Australia and New Zealand and awards a star rating from zero to five based on four separate pillar scores: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist.
A 5 star rating means a vehicle performed strongly across all four areas under ANCAP's current testing criteria, not that it excelled equally in every individual test, and it's worth reading the pillar breakdown rather than the star count alone.
What is ANCAP and how does it rate cars?
ANCAP is an independent, government-backed body that crash-tests vehicles sold in the Australian and New Zealand markets and publishes the results publicly.
Ratings are based on physical crash tests, including frontal offset, full width frontal, side impact and oblique pole tests, alongside assessments of pedestrian and cyclist protection and the vehicle's standard safety technology.
Booran Motors doesn't conduct or influence this testing, we report on ANCAP's published results and link to the original assessment for every vehicle we cover.
What do the four ANCAP pillars mean?
Adult Occupant Protection measures how well the front and rear seats protect adult occupants in frontal, side and rear-impact crash tests.
Child Occupant Protection measures protection for child dummies in the same crash tests, along with how easily common child restraints install in the vehicle's rear seats.
Vulnerable Road User Protection covers pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist safety, both the vehicle's physical structure in an impact and its autonomous emergency braking performance in detecting and reacting to people outside the car.
Safety Assist covers the vehicle's standard driver assistance technology, including autonomous emergency braking for other vehicles, lane support systems, speed assistance and driver monitoring.
How long does an ANCAP rating last?
Each rating is tied to the testing criteria in force when the vehicle was assessed, shown as a criteria year range (for example, 2023 to 2025) on the ANCAP report, and carries an expiry date, typically five to six years from testing.
A rating can also apply only to specific build dates or VIN ranges, an updated version of a model is often tested and rated separately from the outgoing version. Always check the applicability details on ANCAP's own report before assuming a rating covers a specific car.
Does a 5 star rating mean a car has no weaknesses?
No. A 5 star rating is a strong overall result, but individual tests within each pillar can still return ADEQUATE, MARGINAL, WEAK or POOR results even on a 5 star car.
Our vehicle-specific breakdowns report those individual results directly rather than letting the headline star rating stand in for the full picture, including where a car's weaker results are worth knowing before you buy.
Recently rated vehicles
| Vehicle | Rating | Adult / Child / VRU / Safety Assist |
|---|---|---|
| MG MGS6 EV | 5 stars | 92% / 87% / 84% / 81% |
| MG4 EV Urban | 5 stars | 87% / 86% / 85% / 82% |
| Mazda CX-5 | 5 stars | 90% / 91% / 93% / 87% |
| BYD Seal 6 | 5 stars | 92% / 90% / 84% / 84% |
| Skoda Octavia | 5 stars | 85% / 81% / 81% / 82% |
| Cupra Formentor | 5 stars | 91% / 86% / 79% / 79% |
This table is updated as each new ANCAP rating is published.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a 5 star ANCAP rating mean?
Is ANCAP the same as Euro NCAP?
Where can I see the official ANCAP rating for a specific car?
Does Booran Motors conduct its own safety testing?
Written by the Booran Motors Editorial Team. About our editorial standards
Ratings data sourced from ANCAP's publicly published assessments. This page is updated as new ratings are released.
Last verified July 2026.