Watch These Stomach-Churning Zero-Star Crash Tests

It’s rare for objectively unsafe cars to go on sale these days. Here in Europe, there have been a handful of recent zero-star scores in Euro NCAP testing, though these mostly come down to a lack of assistance systems.

Not to downplay their importance, but it often shows a measure of how far safety has come rather than how poor it is. However, a fresh round of testing in Australia has produced some stomach-churning results.

Tested by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), an independent board testing cars sold in Australia and New Zealand, the MG5 and Mahindra Scorpio have both received the unwanted award of zero stars.

In the case of the MG5, ANCAP says it presents “significant injury risk measurements” for the chest and legs in the front offset test and the same for rear passengers in the full-width frontal test. The board highlighted that, in Australian spec, the MG5 isn’t sold with a centre airbag nor are seatbelt pre-tensioners available on the entry-level spec of the car.

Meanwhile, the Mahindra Scorpio said to ‘provide a mix’ of ‘good’, ‘acceptable’, ‘marginal’, ‘weak’ and ‘poor’ in the frontal offset, full-width frontal, side-impact and oblique pole crash tests.

The board was scathing in its comments on both cars. Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP chief executive officer, said: “Both brands have misjudged the safety expectations of today’s consumers.

“The MG 5 and Mahindra Scorpio were released into the Australasian market for the first time this year, yet it’s clear that their safety offerings are some generations behind what we see with almost every new car on sale today.

“This is a stark reminder that not all cars offer the same level of safety – even when they’re brand new models.”

In the case of MG, it’s reacting quickly to the results. According to Drive.com.au, the Chinese manufacturer is set to fast-track structural upgrades to the 5 saloon. It remains to be confirmed if the brand will resubmit the car for testing, though.