Kia Seltos gets top 5-star rating in ANCAP crash test

he Kia Seltos SUV has been awarded a top five-star crash rating by ANCAP SAFETY, Australasia’s independent vehicle safety authority. The Kia Seltos, which is manufactured in South Korea, was introduced in Australia and New Zealand in October 2019 as an import.

All variants of the Kia Seltos have achieved five stars, meeting five-star thresholds in all four key areas of assessment. Higher specification variants also offer advanced collision avoidance capability. This five-star ANCAP safety rating applies to all variants. Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard.

According to ANCAP SAFETY, the S Plus, Sport Plus and LX Plus variants together with the S, Sport and LX variants fitted with the optional Safety Pack were equipped with a radar-fusion system which is capable of detecting and either avoiding or mitigating collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. This more advanced system also allows for crash avoidance at low and higher speeds, up to 80 kilometres per hour.

The S, Sport and LX variants sold without the optional Safety Pack were equipped with a camera-only collision avoidance system and, while they perform to five-star standards, are not designed to detect cyclists, and offer slightly reduced autonomous emergency braking (AEB) performance at higher speeds with functionality limited to a top speed of approximately 55 kilometres per hour.

“We’ve seen some impressive results this year and consumers should be encouraged by the high standards the majority of vehicle brands continue to achieve,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, James Goodwin.

“The Seltos has performed well, but it is important consumers are aware that there are some differences in safety performance for the entry-level Seltos variants. Base models of the Seltos miss out on some of the more advanced features available with the radar-fusion AEB system, and we would encourage consumers to purchase a variant which offers the enhanced collision avoidance capability as this can translate to real differences on the road,” said Goodwin.

All variants of Kia’s smallest SUV for the Australian market come equipped with six airbags, ABS, an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, emergency lane keeping and a tyre pressure monitoring system (TMPS). This equipment helped it score 85 percent for adult occupancy, 83 percent for child occupancy, 61 percent for Vulnerable Road User Protection and 70 percent for its safety assist features. An options pack adds features such as adaptive cruise control, a more advanced version of the AEB system, a blind spot monitor and a rear cross traffic alert system, all of which improve the Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist score by 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

While standard safety kit of the India-spec Kia Seltos does comprise six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, traction control, hill-start assist, a 360-degree camera, TMPS and a blind spot monitor as standard. Meanwhile, the base trim comes with just two airbags, ABS with EBD and rear parking sensors as standard.

Still, even the base level of kit, along with the sturdy body structure (as certified by ANCAP) should help it achieve a comparable score on Global NCAP’s crash tests, which are conducted with different parameters in mind.

The Kia Seltos for Australia also differs from the India-spec SUV in terms of its powertrain options. While the India-spec Seltos has three engine options (two petrols and one diesel); in Australia, the SUV is available with either a 150hp, 2.0-litre petrol engine or a 177hp, 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine.