The organization that conducts independent car crash-test safety ratings for Australia and New Zealand is ANCAP.
ANCAP stands for the Australasian New Car Assessment Program. Founded in the early 1990s, it publishes comparative safety ratings for new passenger cars, SUVs and light commercial vehicles sold in Australia and New Zealand. Its familiar zero-to-five-star system helps buyers compare protection in crashes and the effectiveness of crash-avoidance technology.
ANCAP is often confused with Euro NCAP, which serves European markets, and IIHS, a United States-based nonprofit research and testing organization. JNCAP is Japan’s equivalent program. Although testing protocols can sometimes be shared or harmonized internationally, these organizations remain distinct programs with their own market coverage and assessment rules.
A five-star result is not a universal measure of every aspect of vehicle safety: ratings are tied to the assessment criteria and date of testing, and different vehicle sizes should not be compared as though they offer identical protection.