The 2024 Chery Tiggo 7 Pro has earned a five-star safety rating from the Australasian New-Car Assessment Program.

The ANCAP or Australasian New Car Assessment Program is a car safety performance assessment program based in Australia that specializes in crash testing of automobiles sold in their country.

It's an excellent reference — or perhaps, a deal breaker — if you are shopping for a mid-size SUV here in the Philippines.

The Tiggo 7 Pro is the second model from Chery (after the Omoda 5 compact crossover SUV) to receive top marks in ANCAP's tests since the Chinese carmaker returned to Australia last year.

Both vehicles were tested employing the latest, most stringent crash-test criteria introduced at the start of this year and which will be used until 2025.

The testing of the Tiggo 7 Pro demonstrated a good balance of all-round performance as assessed against the latest 2023-2025 test criteria. Across the four key areas of ANCAP safety assessment, the Tiggo 7 Pro achieved: 88 percent in Adult Occupant Protection; 87 percent in Child Occupant Protection; 72 percent in Vulnerable Road User Protection; 86 percent in Safety Assist Dual frontal airbags, side chest-protecting airbags, side head-protecting airbags covering first and second rows, and a driver knee airbag are standard to the model tested.

A center airbag which provides added protection to front-seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard and offered maximum head protection to the two front-seat occupants in the side impact test.

Physical crash protection offered to adult (88 percent) and child (87 percent) occupants was "Good." An autonomous emergency braking system covering the full range of current test scenarios (car-to-car, vulnerable road user, junction and crossing, backover and head-on), as well as a lane support system with active lane keep assist, lane departure warning, and emergency lane keeping are standard for the Tiggo 7 Pro.

'Good' levels

Tests of the autonomous emergency braking car-to-car system showed "Good" levels of performance. "Good" performance was also recorded in car-to-car lane support tests, with full points scored.

Lane support testing is conducted to assess whether the system fitted to the test vehicle can effectively intervene and assist the driver in reducing the risk of a run-off-road crash or collision with another vehicle in an adjacent lane. The Tiggo 7 Pro showed it was able to react well to test roads including the unmarked road edge and test roads with dash- and solid line-markings.

Evaluating the ability for an occupant to safely exit a vehicle if flooded, Chery demonstrated that the doors of the Tiggo 7 Pro could remain functional for the minimum time period required, and also provides a safety escape hammer to allow an occupant's exit via the windows.

Starting this year, ANCAP awards manufacturers with points for door and window opening functionality when submerged in water, with uninterrupted operation of windows or the provision of a "break glass" safety device eligible for scoring.

Of the nine vehicles rated by ANCAP this year, three have demonstrated window opening performance, with the Tiggo 7 Pro the first model to offer a safety escape hammer to assist with window exit.

"Year 2023 has been a record year for new car sales, and coupled with the new ANCAP safety ratings published this year we have seen coverage of a mix of brands, price-points and powertrains from both mainstream and emerging brands. This broadens choice for consumers wanting to prioritize safety," said Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP chief executive officer.