Volkswagen Passat to remain on sale without five-star safety score, but gains advanced tech
The Volkswagen Passat is one of a number of vehicles due to lose its five-star safety rating at the end of this year. It will remain on sale ‘unrated’, but with a full suite of advanced safety technology.
The Volkswagen Passat will remain on sale in Australia next year – and beyond – despite its five-star safety score expiring at the end of this year.
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) – a not-for-profit crash test authority funded by state and federal governments – last week announced it would begin applying six-year expiry dates to vehicles tested in 2015 and earlier.
The six-year expiry was announced to the automotive industry four years ago, but the deadline has impacted some cars with longer-than-usual lifecycles.
The Volkswagen Passat scored a five-star safety rating when tested against 2015 criteria.
However ANCAP, and its European affiliate Euro NCAP, have raised the bar since then – and made it more difficult for vehicles to achieve a five-star safety rating.
While a five-star safety rating is not a legal requirement – and is in fact a higher threshold than federal vehicle eligibility regulations – many business and government fleets have mandated five-star cars.
Volkswagen Australia says there are no plans to re-test the Passat at this stage in its lifecycle, however the company has armed the vehicle with every available piece of advanced safety technology.
In the years after the Volkswagen Passat was crash-tested in 2015, the company says it has added the following safety aids across all Passat models sold in Australia:
- Radar cruise control with traffic stop-start
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- High-speed and low-speed autonomous emergency braking
- Lane keeping assistance
- Blind-zone warning
Volkswagen Australia said: “While safety ratings should be reviewed, why would a review fail to account for significant active and passive safety upgrades? Passat customers, private and fleet, are appraised of these and make their purchases secure in the knowledge that their choice remains at the forefront of occupant and bystander protection technology.”
MORE: Five-star safety score expiry dates explained in detail
The post Volkswagen Passat to remain on sale without five-star safety score, but gains advanced tech appeared first on Drive.