Porsche rules out ANCAP testing for its models

Key highlights:

• Porsche Australia has no plans for separate ANCAP testing
• Cayenne Electric and Macan Electric have five-star Euro NCAP ratings
• ANCAP says it lacks technical information to establish local equivalent ratings

Porsche Cars Australia says it has no plans to submit any of its models for independent ANCAP safety testing, despite equivalent crash-test data being available through Euro NCAP. That means new Porsche models such as the Cayenne Electric and Macan Electric will not receive local ANCAP ratings unless the company changes its approach.

No ANCAP test planned for Cayenne Electric

Porsche Cars Australia director of PR and marketing Alexis Truscott said there were no plans for separate testing for the new Cayenne Electric.

Ms Truscott said, “While Porsche vehicles, including the Cayenne, have achieved strong results in Euro NCAP testing, Porsche Cars Australia does not currently submit vehicles for separate ANCAP testing.”

ANCAP has never published a safety rating for a Porsche model.

However, the Cayenne Electric and Macan Electric have both received maximum five-star safety ratings from Euro NCAP, ANCAP’s European affiliate. The Taycan and third-generation Cayenne also previously received Euro NCAP ratings, although those ratings have now expired.

Porsche models share VW Group foundations

Sports cars such as the Porsche 718 and 911 rarely undergo independent crash testing by their manufacturers, but most mainstream and premium passenger vehicles, including sedans and SUVs, do.

The Macan and Cayenne share their underpinnings with several Volkswagen Group models that currently hold ANCAP and Euro NCAP safety ratings, and ANCAP can also use Euro NCAP results under its “partner model” protocol.

That process allows manufacturers to submit technical documentation showing that different models with shared core structural characteristics will deform similarly in a collision.

As a result, related models can share crash-test data without each vehicle undergoing a separate physical assessment.

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ANCAP has used related models before

Recent examples show how the partner-model process can work.

The Hyundai Elexio mid-size electric SUV received a five-star ANCAP rating based on physical assessment of the related Kia EV5, and the large Denza B8 off-road SUV received a similar rating based on testing of the smaller B5.

ANCAP also awarded five stars to both the Chery Tiggo 4 small SUV and Tiggo 8 large SUV based on assessment of the Tiggo 7 medium SUV. All three Chery SUVs use the same T1X platform.

However, they have different body sizes, wheelbases, ride heights and powertrains.

Why Porsche has no local ratings

It remains unclear why Porsche has not submitted the Euro NCAP crash-test data for the Cayenne and Macan to ANCAP for local assessment, and there is general parity between the criteria and scoring systems used by the two independent safety organisations.

ANCAP says it wants to publish locally applicable safety ratings for Porsche models sold in Australia and New Zealand. However, the organisation says it currently lacks the technical information needed to establish equivalence between the Porsche models tested in Europe and locally applicable safety ratings. 

For now, Porsche customers in Australia therefore have Euro NCAP safety results for some models, but no equivalent local ANCAP rating.