Bulked up seven-seater did well in ANCAP assessment.

BIG, bluff and brawny … and also now accredited with a very strong crash test rating from the national auditor.

Latest Australasian New Car Assessment Programme protocols were a breeze for China’s largest sports utility wagon, the Tank 500 from GWM, the make that used to go by Great Wall Motors.

ANCAP has awarded the three-row, seven occupant LandCruiser 300-lookalike a maximum five-star safety rating and, in doing so, meted the model praise for having one of the most advanced child-detection systems on the market.

The rig nailed all of ANCAP’s key assessment areas, with high scores coming from a range of crash tests and maximum points awarded for the level of protection provided to adult and child occupants in the side impact test. 

The best single outcome was in the Child Occupant Protection category, where it achieved 93 percent score based on the presence and function of a direct child presence detection (CPD) system – a feature ANCAP’s protocols now encourage, but do not mandate.

GWM’s CPD set up employs a range of sensors that detect physical and respiratory movements, and therefore the presence, of a child who may have been left inside once the vehicle is locked. 

Where motion is detected, the vehicle sounds its horn and issues mobile phone and email notifications to alert the driver.

“The CPD system fitted to the GWM Tank 500 is one of the more advanced systems assessed by ANCAP so far, and it's great to see manufacturers implementing this potentially life-saving technology,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

While heaping praise, the safety authority also mentioned the model for the third row failing to feature top tether anchors. This means children who require a child car seat cannot use it.

The model also did well in collision avoidance tests. ANCAP noted that it has a full range of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and lane support systems. High scores were awarded in braking and lane support tests with pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, and other vehicles.

Where it lapsed, ANCAP found, was in having an increased risk to its occupants of being injured were the Tank  struck by an oncoming vehicle. It wore a full eight-point vehicle compatibility penalty for that.

ANCAP also found that, though the AEB system is effective in mitigating collisions in the head-on travelling straight scenario, it was not in the lane change scenario in which an oncoming vehicle moves into the path of the subject vehicle.