Updated Ford Mustang an improvement, but limited to 3 stars.

Australasia’s independent vehicle safety authority, ANCAP, has today released a 3 star ANCAP safety rating for revised Ford Mustang models following a specification upgrade to improve its safety performance.

Following the publication of a 2 star ANCAP safety rating for the Ford Mustang in January 2017, Ford has revised the specification of its Mustang for the right-hand-drive Australian and New Zealand markets, resulting in an upgrade to 3 stars.

“Improvements have been made to the Mustang’s Safety Assist features as well as tuning to restraint systems,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, Mr James Goodwin.

The following equipment is now fitted as standard:

• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – City, Interurban and Vulnerable Road User
• Forward collision warning (FCW)
• Lane support system (LSS) – lane departure warning & lane keeping assist

These changes see an increased Safety Assist score of 61% - improved from an original 16%, and an increased Pedestrian Protection score – rising from 64% to 78%.

“Structurally however, the revised Ford Mustang is identical to the Mustang we originally rated, meaning it still falls short of our expectations in the areas of Adult Occupant and Child Occupant Protection.”

“The inclusion of driver assistance aids such as AEB and lane keep assist is a definite step in the right direction, yet these upgrades have neglected to address the injury risk posed to rear seat occupants as well as whiplash protection,” Mr Goodwin said.

The revised Ford Mustang enters Australian and New Zealand markets 12 months after revised left-hand-drive models were made available for the European market.

The 3 star ANCAP safety rating applies to Fastback (V8 and EcoBoost coupe) variants built from December 2017. Fastback variants sold from December 2015 through to those built in December 2017 hold a 2 star ANCAP safety rating. Other variants are unrated.