Kajang, Malaysia, 9 December 2021 – The New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary today. ASEAN NCAP is the ninth new car assessment program in the world that performs independent assessment on the safety performance of new passenger car models released in the market. Its main objective is to promote and enhance vehicle safety standards and rating system in the ASEAN region. The safety assessment initially began with test phases in which the first phase of the assessment, comprising eight models, was funded by Global NCAP.
Now, ten years have passed and since then ASEAN NCAP has tested about 110 models and variants and has produced 137 ratings. During this period ASEAN NCAP has also developed three roadmaps that are Roadmaps for 2012-2016, 2017-2020 and 2021-2025. Under the latest roadmap 2021-2025, ASEAN NCAP covers four assessment domains comprising Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Safety Assist and Motorcyclist Safety. The 2021-2025 roadmap marks a significant milestone for ASEAN NCAP in which we had initiated the development of an assessment pillar that ensures the assessed vehicle avoids collision with vulnerable road users particularly motorcyclists.
To celebrate the success of ASEAN NCAP 10 years of achievements, ASEAN NCAP together with Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) has organized a celebratory event today at MIROS office in Kajang, Malaysia. The event was attended by representatives of various vehicle manufacturers and suppliers in Malaysia and also those who have continuously support ASEAN NCAP work since the beginning of its establishment until now.
For the celebration, we were honoured to have the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, YBhg. Dato’ Razali Bin Mohamad to officiate the event. Dato’ Razali reached the event premise at MIROS office accompanied by Harley Davidson Owner Group Petaling Jaya Chapter Malaysia and officers from the Enforcement Division, Road Transport Department. In his speech, Dato’ Razali said:
“The establishment of ASEAN NCAP has produced a significant impact on vehicle safety aspects in Malaysia including the installation of at least two airbags in new vehicles, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and most importantly the emphasis on Blind Spot Technology (BST) to detect the presence of motorcycles, and other technologies that are expected to help in reducing collisions and crashes on the road.
“Regardless, statistics have shown that the number of deaths involving motorcyclists in the ASEAN region or particularly in Malaysia is still high. As such, ASEAN NCAP has taken this initiative by including BST in its protocol as part of the requirement to earn points in ASEAN NCAP star rating assessment.
“Nevertheless, it is unfair to simply expect vehicle manufacturers to add on important technologies in their vehicles. Motorcycle manufacturers should also be proactive in installing important technologies in motorcycles, such as ABS. Congratulations to all motorcycle manufacturers such as SYM which has released a motorcycle model, SYM Husky ADV, that has ABS as a standard equipment. Such efforts should be highly regarded by the entire community in saving the lives of motorcyclists.”
During the event, ASEAN NCAP also conducted vehicle safety demonstration on Anti-lock Braking (ABS) technology and Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB). These two are among the technologies that are able to prevent collision or reduce serious injuries in the event a crash happened. The guests were later on entertained by YBhg. Dato’ Awie, Malaysia’s local celebrity, who also attended the event with the motorcycle convoy together with the guest of honour, YBhg. Dato’ Razali.
Decade of Safer Vehicle Award
In conjunction with the tenth anniversary celebration, ASEAN NCAP wishes to commemorate vehicle manufacturers who have made initiatives to ensure the best safety performance of their vehicles. Other than vehicle manufacturers, ASEAN NCAP also has strong work relationships with individuals and organization who are dedicated in pushing for road and vehicle safety in Malaysia as well as the ASEAN region. Thus, to continuously encourage their remarkable accomplishments, ASEAN NCAP is proud to award the Decade of Vehicle Awards to the following winners.
| Award | Winner |
| Best Adult Occupant Protection 2012-2016 | Nissan Teana |
| Best Adult Occupant Protection 2017-2020 | Toyota C-HR |
| Best Safety Assist 2017 | Perodua Myvi |
| Best Safety Assist 2018 | Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid |
| Best Safety Assist 2019 | Toyota Majesty/Granvia |
| Best Safety Assist 2020 | Isuzu MU-X |
| Best Forward Facing Child Occupant Protection 2012-2016 | Nissan Teana |
| Best Forward Facing Child Occupant Protection 2017-2020 | Honda Accord |
| Safety Technology Award | Honda Civic – AEB for Motorcycle |
| Excellent Award – Organization | JAMA |
| Excellent Award – Organization | Global NCAP |
| Excellent Award – Consistent 5-Star | Honda City |
| Excellent Award – Consistent 5-Star | Honda Civic |
| Excellent Award – Individual | Ahmed Ismail bin Haji Amin |
| Excellent Award – Individual | Datuk Suret Singh |
| The Most 5-Star Car 2012-2016 (Adult Occupant Protection) | Honda |
| The Most 5-Star Car 2012-2016 (Child Occupant Protection) | Nissan |
| The Most 5-Star Car 2017-2020 | Toyota |
| The Most 5-Star Car 2012-2020 | Toyota |
| Best Road Safety Partner | Honda |
MIROS Director-General who is also ASEAN NCAP Secretary-General and Acting Chairman, Hon. Assistant Commissioner (CD) Adjunct Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim said:
“When we first began our work in 2011, there were not many people who had such high confidence in us. We heard people say that we will only last for three months. Because of this assumption, we were determined to go against all odds to prove them wrong. I was blessed with a group of dedicated young people who were eager to learn about crash testing and of course their perseverance towards road safety research, which was a fairly new area at the time. Now I’m proud to see all our hard work have resulted in astounding achievements and we are making significant impact to the automotive industry with consumers safety is being placed huge importance in vehicle development. The Decade of Safer of Vehicle Award is our way of giving credits where it is due and also provide recognition to manufacturers who have consistently adhering to our protocol to ensure that their vehicles obtained 5-Star ratings. My wish is that the Award serves as a catalyst to encourage other manufacturers to continuously researched and improved their respective vehicles by putting safety first in the development of the cars.”
The awards were presented to the manufacturers’ appointed representatives here in Malaysia as majority of them were not able to travel to Malaysia. Despite the travelling challenge, they were still able to celebrate the anniversary together by viewing the running of the event live-streamed through the Webex application and ASEAN NCAP YouTube Live.
Full press release is available here.