Good news for popular Toyota car in South Africa
· The South African
The Toyota Starlet has gone from one of South Africa’s worst-performing cars in crash testing to a four-star safety rating after Toyota upgraded the model’s standard safety equipment.
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The latest Global NCAP #SaferCarsForAfrica results show that the updated Starlet achieved four stars for adult occupant protection and three stars for child occupant protection.
The dramatic improvement follows the addition of six airbags as standard, including side curtain airbags.
The result comes just months after Global NCAP gave the earlier two-airbag version of the Starlet a shocking zero-star rating for adult occupant protection.
Toyota makes major changes to Starlet
The Starlet tested in May was fitted with only driver and passenger frontal airbags, along with Electronic Stability Control. It did not have side head-protection airbags.
That version was found to have an unstable bodyshell and poor protection in several areas, particularly during the side-impact test.
Toyota subsequently upgraded the Starlet produced at its Indian plant, making six airbags standard.
Global NCAP offered Toyota the opportunity to voluntarily submit the updated model for testing. Toyota declined, so Global NCAP purchased the upgraded Starlet using its own funding and carried out the crash test independently.
The result was a significant improvement.
How did the new model perform?
The updated model performed considerably better in side-impact testing.
Global NCAP rated head protection as good and chest protection as adequate in the side impact test, while abdomen and pelvis protection were rated good.
In the side-pole impact test, head protection was again rated good, although chest protection was marginal. Abdomen and pelvis protection were good.
However, the vehicle’s structure remains a concern. The footwell was rated as stable, but the bodyshell was considered unstable and unable to withstand further loadings in the frontal test.
There were also concerns around child protection.
During the frontal impact assessment, the head of the three-year-old dummy made contact with the vehicle interior and chest protection was rated low. In the side-impact assessment, the head of the three-year-old dummy was exposed to impact.
A major turnaround for a popular South African carThe Starlet is manufactured in India and is one of South Africa’s most popular cars, with more than 20 000 units sold.
Global NCAP CEO Richard Woods welcomed Toyota’s decision to make the additional safety equipment standard in South Africa.
He said the four-star result demonstrated what could be achieved when manufacturers prioritise safety, while calling on other manufacturers to make life-saving safety equipment standard rather than optional.
The Automobile Association of South Africa also welcomed the improvement.
AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede described the move from zero to four stars as a considerable improvement and said it showed that entry-level vehicles can be made substantially safer through changes to their safety specifications.
The latest result therefore gives South African Starlet buyers a very different safety picture from the one presented by the model tested earlier this year.