KEY POINTS:
Ford is describing its new FG Falcon as the safest vehicle produced in Australia, following the sedan's five-star crash rating.
The FG range is the first Australian-built car to achieve the maximum safety result, after tests done by the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP).
The safety body
said it tested the entry-level petrol Falcon XT sedan, which performed well in the frontal offset, side impact and optional pole tests, providing strong protection for all vehicle occupants.
It gave the car 34.6 points out of a possible 37, the highest score ever for a car built across the ditch.
The rating puts the FG Falcon in the top 7 per cent of all published ANCAP results, as well as in the top 24 per cent of published ANCAP five-star results.
Ford says it also puts its all-new large-car ahead of many significantly higher-priced, premium European vehicles with established reputations for world-class safety.
Said Ford Australia president Bill Osborne: "We design our cars to deliver real-world safety benefits for our customers.
"This result is a resounding third party endorsement of the extensive safety development programme undertaken for the all-new FG Falcon.
"Not only is the FG Falcon the safest vehicle ever produced in this country, it is also competitive with the safest sedans in the world.
"These safety test results add further validation to the extensive crash simulation process and physical crash test programme conducted by Ford Australia for the FG Falcon, which was the most comprehensive in the company's history."
Ford put the FG Falcon through crash tests facilities in Detroit and at Volvo in Sweden. It studied more than 38 different vehicle crash modes during the course of the vehicle's development, and completed 426 full vehicle-representative physical crash tests and more than 5000 simulated ones.
The petrol FG Falcon sedan scored maximum points in two of the three physical crash tests by ANCAP.
ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh described the result as a significant milestone for an Australian-made car. But he said ANCAP was disappointed the five-star rating did not apply to the LPG version, which was given a four-star rating because it is not available with electronic stability control (ESC).
"ANCAP has high expectations that this achievement will encourage other manufacturers to build five-star cars," said McIntosh.
The safety ranking came in spite of Ford not fitting side curtain airbags as standard spec, a safety feature included on big-car rivals the Holden Commodore and Toyota Aurion.
Ford Australia product development executive Trevor Worthington said at the car's launch this year that the company didn't believe the car needed side airbags as standard.
"Vehicle structure is what delivers the best crash outcomes. We have invested heavily in basic vehicle structure, rather than simply adding curtain airbags. We welcome independent crash testing of the FG."
The FG Falcon scored two out of four points for pedestrian safety. "This is an improvement on the previous Falcon," said McIntosh.
