Mitsubishi Xpander scores high points for crash protection

Being family-oriented vehicles, crossovers and MPVs are expected to be one of the safest kinds of cars on the road today. If you're considering the soon-to-be-launched Mitsubishi Xpander, you can breathe a sigh of relief as the ASEAN New Car Assesment Program (ASEAN NCAP) has crash-tested the new crossover-MPV and has awarded it high marks for occupant protection.

The safety organization awarded four stars to the Xpander for overall protection. Before you ask why it didn't get the full five star rating, ASEAN NCAP docked points from the Xpander for not having side airbags, blind spot monitoring or lane departure warning. Following the Global New Car Assessment initiative which ASEAN NCAP follows, they rate cars higher if it comes with more driver aids and assists that help prevent the accident from happening in the first place. ASEAN NCAP also reckons that the Xpander could have rated even higher if it was available with side airbags.

With that in mind, the agency did rate the Xpander highly in crash protection. The Xpander scored 14.22 out of 16 for front impact adult protection, 13.92 out of 16 for side impact adult protection and a perfect 8 out of 8 for side impact child protection. Front impact child protection meanwhile was rated 8 out of 10. ASEAN NCAP also praised the Xpander for having an easy child seat mounting system in place.

While it doesn't come with the aforementioned advanced safety systems, ASEAN NCAP did give more points to the Xpander for having stability control and anti-lock brakes standard in the Thai-spec models. It is yet to be known if Philippine-spec models will also come with the same safety equipment fitted standard.

Overall, the Xpander is rated five stars for adult occupant protection, four for child occupant protection and four stars in safety assists. The weighted average resulted in four stars for overall safety.

For full results and analysis, click here.