Safety Assist Technology (SAT) comprises technologies that are designed for vehicles to avoid accidents from occurring and mitigate injury towards the passengers. Apart from crashworthiness performance of vehicles, safety assist has become an integral part in the rating assessment of established New Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs) around the world, including ASEAN NCAP.

Since the establishment of ASEAN NCAP in 2012, SATs i.e., Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Seatbelt Reminder (SBR) system have been considered in the rating system as a prerequisite for tested vehicle to obtain a 5-Star rating. This requirement is valid until end of 2016.

For the upcoming ASEAN NCAP new rating system for 2017–2020, Safety Assist requirement has changed and improved considerably. Apart from ESC and SBR which dominantly affect the scoring, new technologies such as Blind Spot Indicator, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and other up to date devices have been considered in the rating system.

According to Mr. Mohd Hafzi Md Isa, ASEAN NCAP Safety Assist Coordinator, the calculation criteria will be primarily based on fitment availability in the respective ASEAN countries. This consequently will be incorporated into the overall final rating. The system is merely based on the concept of 3-5-2 released in October 2013 during the Automotive Engineering Week conducted in Malacca.

The new fitment rate system will guide manufacturers to follow through, which may encompass a better strategy in the ASEAN market. It is a major change from the previous draft that was released in February 2015. Instead of the dual rating system, which will be abolished by end of 2016, a single rating will be applied for each tested car model.

Detailed requirement will be officially released during the scheduled Manufacturer Meeting in Bandung next September 2015 in conjunction with the ASEAN Automobile Safety Forum (AASF) 2015/003.