Mitsubishi’s load-all only came on sale two years ago and was cited for poor crash worthiness.

THE Mitsubishi van slammed by the Australasian crash test safety assessor last year is set to leave New Zealand, production having curtailed.

The end of the line for the Express was announced tonight by Mitsubishi Australia and Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand has since confirmed it is also losing the model.

The Renault-badged product it draws from remains in production and on sale.

“Unfortunately today’s news means that final Express van production will arrive in NZ in the second half of this year,” MMNZ marketing and corporate affairs head Reece Congdon said tonight.

“Obviously, this is disappointing news as Express has been a real success for us, but MMNZ will continue to work on securing van product for our market into the future.”

A version of the Renault Trafic built for Mitsubishi by its French partner, the model launched here in June of 2020 then was subsequently mauled by the national safety auditor in March of 2021.

Having a swag of safety ingredients could not save it from achieving what was then the poorest outcome ever from Australasian New Car Assessment Programme tests, part-funded by NZ agencies.

The damning ‘zero star’ assessment of the Express from ANCAP was a controversial call. Many big fleets’ purchase decisions are based around safety assessments.

Mitsubishi Australia announced the current generation model will conclude production from next month, with final customer deliveries expected by the end of this year. It said it had enough stock to last the remainder of this year.

ANCAP is an independent safety advocate that has been in existence for almost 30 years. Funders on this side of the Tasman include Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and New Zealand Automobile Association.

The outcome it cited for the Express was its first zero. It has since issued another, for the updated version of Renault’s electric car, the Zoe.

The conclusion about the Express triggered a furore. Critics pointed out that the Trafic, which is identical to the Mitsubishi save for minor details that have no bearing on crash testing, holds a three-star rating, issued by ANCAP’s European equivalent, NCAP, in 2015.

ANCAP said the Express would have been eligible to share the Trafic’s NCAP rating had it introduced within two years of the Renault. That did not of course happen and the protocols ANCAP used were tougher than those used in 2015.

The Express matches its Renault counterpart in having six airbags, roll over mitigation, stability and traction control, anti-lock braking system and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD).

Both versions lack automated emergency braking, a feature now offered by some rivals. Blind spot detection and driver fatigue monitoring are also absent.

ANCAP said the Express was unable to qualify for a rating higher than zero due to the absence of active safety systems consumers had come to expect in a newly released model.

MMNZ at the time offered no comment about the ANCAP rating and neither did the Motor Industry Association, which acts for new vehicle distributors.