Holden and Isuzu are facing criticism after some variants of their Colorado and D-Max utes were awarded only four stars by the Australian New Car Assessment Programme (Ancap).
The failure to make the five-star grade has been blamed on the lack of dual pretensioners on the front seatbelts of the Colorado single cab and space cab workhorse models and Isuzu's flagship D-Max crew cab.
This meant these models equipped with a single pretensioner on each front seat are deemed to have missed Ancap's minimum standard of adult occupant protection in the frontal offset impact test, with driver chest protection being rated as "marginal".
By contrast, Holden's flagship four-door Colorado crew cab, which is equipped with dual pretensioners for front-seat occupants, was awarded five stars and an "acceptable" driver chest deflection score when it was launched in July.
In Australia, the lack of five stars could affect sales as an increasing number of major fleets - led by mining giant BHP Billiton - exclude four-star models under their five-star safety buying policies.
