Don’t expect an ANCAP star rating for the Ford F-150

The locally remanufactured Ford F-150 will join the growing full-size pickup market in Australia, but like its rivals it won’t offer an ANCAP safety rating.

Speaking with CarExpert, Ford Australia CEO and president Andrew Birkic said the company won’t be offering the F-150 for ANCAP crash testing. This is unless the F-150 is selected by ANCAP for testing.

The independent Australian safety authority has the final say in whether certain vehicles are included in its assessment program testing.

ANCAP can source vehicles it wants to assess from dealer stock, pre-built stock, or from a production line. All selected cars must be transported immediately to the safety authority’s test laboratory.

The F-150 isn’t the only full-size pickup to not currently have an ANCAP safety rating. The Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 are currently unrated, as well as the entire Chevrolet Silverado range.

CarExpert understands ANCAP is potentially looking at expanding its testing to look beyond the passenger cars, SUVs and smaller utes and vans that are currently tested.

This could include testing of vehicles including larger utes, light trucks, and potentially motorbikes or scooters. The safety authority previously flagged this intention.

It’s understood test protocols are still to be determined, however it could include an assessment of the active safety collision avoidance features rather than a full suite of destructive crash tests.

F-150 NHTSA crash test

This could mean a grading system similar to the recently imposed Commercial Van Safety Comparison program rather than a traditional star rating.

The commercial vans in this comparison program had there advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) tested and ranked on a scale from ‘Platinum’, ‘Gold’, ‘Silver’, and ‘Bronze’, to ‘Not Recommended’.

In the US, the Ford F-150, along with all other full-size pickups are required to be crash tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). They’re also crash tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

It’s worth noting the Australian-specification Ford F-150 is remanufactured locally from left- to right-hand drive and features a range of different modifications. Click here to read about all the changes.

The entire 2024 Ford F-150 range comes standard with the following safety equipment:

Six airbagsAutonomous emergency braking (AEB)Blind-spot monitoring with trailer tow coverageRear cross-traffic alertLane-keep assistDriver alert systemCruise controlRear-view cameraReversing sensorsFord Pro Trailer Back-Up Assist

The Lariat adds:

Intersection assistLane centringEvasive steering assistAdaptive cruise control with stop/goSpeed sign recognitionSurround-view cameraFront parking sensors

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