The Tesla Model Y has been judged the safest car in Australia for the last year, as ANCAP reveals the top safety performers across SUVs, utes and passenger cars.
Notably, all of the safest vehicles — except one — are Chinese-built electric vehicles.
Safety leaders set the benchmark According to ANCAP, “these vehicles set the benchmark for safety performance in 2025, showing consumers and fleets the safest options in each segment”.
ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said the results reinforce a clear trend in modern vehicle design.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist,” Hoorweg said.
“The top performers delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.”
Why the Model Y came out on top
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program assessed vehicles using a weighted scoring system across four key pillars: adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, vulnerable road user protection and Safety Assist technologies.
Adult occupant protection carries the greatest influence, accounting for 40 per cent of the total score. Strong performance in physical crash protection, combined with advanced driver assistance systems, helped the latest Tesla Model Y achieve the highest weighted score of any vehicle assessed last year.
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That result makes the Model Y not only the safest medium SUV, but also the safest car overall in Australia for 2025. Chinese-built EVs dominate the list With one exception, every safest-in-class vehicle for 2025 is a Chinese-built electric vehicle. The outlier is the new-generation diesel Toyota HiLux, which also claimed the safest ute title. A
battery-electric HiLux is expected to join the lineup in the near future.
ANCAP’s safest cars for 2025:
- Safest car overall / medium SUV: Tesla Model Y
- Safest small SUV: MG S5 EV
- Safest large SUV: Volvo EX90
- Safest ute: Toyota HiLux
- Safest small car: Mini Cooper E
- Safest medium car: Tesla Model 3
- Safest large car: MG IM5