Five stars for Sealion 7 and EX5 medium-sized sports utilities come with comment about child protection systems.

STRONG scores have been awarded by the national crash test safety auditor to two medium sports utilities from Chinese brands - one here, the other landing soon.

Five star results from the Australasian New Car Assessment programme attach to the BYD Sealion 7 (above) that is already on sale and the Geely EX5 (below) that soon will be.

The BYD’s outcome highlighted strong performance across ANCAP’s four key assessment areas, including scores of 87 percent for ‘adult occupant protection’ where the model achieved full points for the side impact, oblique pole and far side impact tests.

‘Weak’ chest protection was, however, recorded for the rear adult passenger’s chest in the full width test, presenting an opportunity for improvement in future designs.

The model scored 93 percent for ‘child occupant protection’ – equalling the top score for vehicles assessed under ANCAP’s current 2023-2025 protocols.

Protection of the six-year-old and 10-year-old dummies was rated ‘good’ for the frontal offset and side impact tests, and maximum points were awarded.

The Sealion 7 is fitted with a direct child presence detection (CPD) system which raises an alert when a child is left in one of the vehicle’s rear seats.

High scores were awarded for the model’s performance in autonomous emergency braking tests with a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, and other vehicles, contributing to scores of 76 percent for ‘vulnerable road user protection’ and 78 percent for ‘safety assist’.

“As electrified vehicles continue to advance technologically, it’s encouraging to see equal investment in safety, ensuring that innovation and the protection of drivers, passengers and families go hand in hand,” said ANCAP’s chief executive officer, Carla Hoorweg.

She said around 5000 children are rescued from locked cars every year in Australia. NZ data was not represented.

“ANCAP strongly encourages the inclusion of features like child presence detection systems that can alert a driver when a child may have been unintentionally left in a car – this safety feature belongs on every family's shopping list when purchasing a new car,” Hoorweg said.

EX5 is Geely’s first car here under its own name; the make also has Volvo, Polestar and Lotus in its portfolio.

In tests of the EX5’s ability to avoid a crash through its advanced driver assistance systems, many scenarios were assessed as ‘good’, including in lane support and in car-to-motorcycle tests, where full points were awarded.

In physical crash testing, full points were awarded in the side impact, whiplash, and far side tests. However, in the frontal offset (MPDB) test, which simulates a head-on collision, several welds around the base of the A-pillar became detached.

Geely demonstrated that the vehicle’s structure did not incur significantly greater damage in a more severe test, however a penalty was applied to the scoring. As with Sealion 7, protection of the rear adult passenger’s chest was rated as ‘weak’ in the full width frontal test.

EX5 achieved an 87 percent score for ‘child occupant protection’, with ‘good’ protection of both the six-year-old and 10-year-old dummies, except for the neck protection for the 10-year-old dummy in the MPDB test, which was ‘adequate’.

A direct child presence detection (CPD) system is also standard on the EX5, however this system did not meet the ANCAP requirements and was unable to achieve any points.

Nonetheless, Hoerweg contended that “the Geely EX5 delivers good overall safety performance and sets a benchmark for Geely’s local presence.”