Upgrades to Toyota HiAce and Mitsubishi Outlander see five-star safety re-affirmed

Updated Toyota HiAce and Mitsubishi Outlander models submitted for re-testing against latest rating criteria.
Tougher tests and more stringent scoring applied, reflecting safety evolution of both models.
Significant upgrades in safety specification and test performance see five-star ratings re-affirmed.

The Toyota HiAce and Mitsubishi Outlander have both received significant updates to their safety specification in recent months, with updated vehicles from both brands submitted to ANCAP for re-testing and reassessment.

Tested and assessed against ANCAP’s current, most stringent 2025 criteria, the results demonstrate the proactive approach adopted by both manufacturers to ensure their products remain competitive and their customers are provided with ongoing safety improvements.

Toyota HiAce

When first released into the Australian and New Zealand markets in 2019, the H30 series Toyota HiAce achieved a five-star rating against the 2019 test criteria in place at the time. Six years on, Toyota has upgraded its high-selling commercial van, adding an expanded list of crash protection and crash avoidance features.

Safety enhancements have been added to vehicles built from June 2025, enabling the HiAce to achieve five-star performance in the more demanding MPDB frontal offset and far-side impact tests. Both of these tests were introduced to the ANCAP test regime in 2020, after the HiAce’s original 2019 assessment.

Key upgrades to the HiAce include:

A centre airbag to reduce occupant-to-occupant injury risk.
Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK), intelligent adaptive cruise control, and advanced speed sign recognition.
A significantly upgraded autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, now capable of intervention in junction, crossing, and head-on scenarios.
Extended vulnerable road user protection, with the HiAce now able to detect and respond to motorcyclists as well as pedestrians and cyclists.

Mitsubishi Outlander

The ZM series Mitsubishi Outlander was first introduced in Australia and New Zealand in 2022 where it achieved a five-star rating.

Updated Outlander vehicles (petrol variants built from April 2025 and PHEV variants built from July 2025) gain:

Improvements to restraints, centre airbag effectiveness, and whiplash performance.
A direct driver monitoring system.
Expanded AEB capability, including turning and motorcycle detection scenarios.
Broadened lane support functionality.

“ANCAP’s test and scoring protocols are intentionally updated every few years to recognise the safety advancements manufacturers are bringing to market, and to encourage ongoing improvement,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

“Think of smartphones or computers. With each new version, consumers expect better performance and added features. Vehicles are no different – safety should continually evolve, and these reassessments demonstrate manufacturers’ commitment to ongoing safety improvements.”

The reassessment pathway has been available since 2018 and is open to any manufacturer that brings safety improvements to the market. To qualify, a manufacturer needs to show that there have been significant safety-relevant changes. Reassessment criteria also apply where safety-related changes are negative – such as the removal of key features.

Other models that have undergone reassessment following upgrades include the Toyota Hilux, VW Polo, VW Golf, Isuzu D-Max, MG3, and MG5.

“These reassessments confirm that the Toyota HiAce and Mitsubishi Outlander remain some of the safest fleet and family models on the market — five stars then, five stars now, despite tougher tests,” Ms Hoorweg added.

Full details can be found at: