Holden utes join the five star safety club

Holden Ute

Test results released yesterday give the Commodore-based ute the top safety rating.

The iconic Holden ute yesterday became the first utility sold in Australia to receive the maximum five-star rating for crash safety.

The result comes just three weeks after a Malaysian-sourced utility, the Proton Jumbuck, was awarded just one star and a pair of Chinese utes from Great Wall Motors received two stars.

It also marks a milestone for Holden, which can boast a five-star rating across its entire Commodore-based range of cars from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program.

The only other locally-constructed utility, the Ford Falcon ute, has a four-star rating and spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said Ford had no plans ‘‘at this stage’’ to push for five stars.

‘‘We had the opportunity to do that when we launched the ute and we determined that in that section of the market, it wasn’t as much of a key customer want as it is in the passenger segment in terms of customers being able to choose a number of options such as stability control or curtain airbags,’’ she said.

However, ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh said an increasing marketing focus and greater awareness of safety would force Ford’s hand.

‘‘We’ve seen fleet managers starting to specify four- and five-star cars so I think it’s only reasonable that the same fleet managers will start to specify four- and five-star vans and utilities,’’ he said.

‘‘I think that Ford will respond, they have responded well to market pressure in the past so I see no reason why they wouldn’t respond to that new pressure.’’

Holden vehicle structure and safety integration manager Steve Curtis said the company had viewed the ute’s crashworthiness as the missing link in its Australian-built Commodore range.

‘‘Ensuring the ute met the same high standard as the rest of the range has been a real focus,’’ he said.

‘‘This endorsement is a very clear indication we are on the right path of continual improvement.’’