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Safety is often a top priority for new-car buyers, especially families, featuring high on the criteria list alongside other things like cost and size.
Last year 23 vehicles were rated by crash test authority the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), made up of a mix of utes, vans, sedans, hatches and SUVs.
But for the whole of 2024, ANCAP has revealed the top three cars that performed best in safety testing according to the latest 2023–2025 protocols, as well as those who missed the mark.
When ANCAP weights one criterion against another, a vehicle’s physical crash protection is the most important factor – with 40 per cent given to how well an adult is protected, 20 per cent each given to how well children and vulnerable road users fare, and the final 20 per cent allocated to safety assist technology.
What were the safest new cars in 2024 that came to market? Let’s take a look.
The now hybrid-only Toyota Camry secured the highest overall weighted ranking of all models rated by ANCAP in 2024, with a score of 88.4 per cent.
“The Camry secured the top spot in 2024, excelling with a score of 95 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection – the highest [such] score of all vehicles assessed in 2024,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg in a statement.
The Camry has a five-star rating applied from June 2024, with the medium-sized sedan available to buy as of August last year starting from around $44,000 drive-away.
The top rating was awarded to all variants of the new Camry, which is a reworked version of the outgoing model that is now seven years old.
As standard, the new Camry gets a wealth of safety equipment including features such as speed sign recognition, a driver monitoring system, misacceleration suppression and blind-spot monitoring.
Though the Camry scored very highly for adult protection, there were some chinks in its armour in how well it protects children, which you can read more about here in our in-depth ANCAP test report.
Second place was awarded to the Mazda CX-80, the second largest in Mazda’s new large architecture line-up, which comes in petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid form with an overall weighted score of 87.6 per cent.
“The Mazda CX-80 received the second highest Adult Occupant Protection score of 2024 with 92 per cent. This was assisted by its gaining of full points in the side impact, far side impact, whiplash protection, and oblique pole crash tests,” said Ms Hoorweg.
The seven-seat CX-80 also has a five-star rating that applies to cars built from July 2024 onwards. It arrived in Australia in October 2024 and costs start from just over $60,000 drive-away.
The CX-80 gets Mazda’s full suite of safety equipment, including things like a 360-degree camera system, front and rear parking sensors, autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and vehicle exit warning.
Its ANCAP result is derived from partner Euro NCAP’s testing conducted overseas, with lower marks given to child and vulnerable user protection, which you can read about in our full ANCAP test report here.
Rounding out the top three safest new cars in 2024 was new brand Zeekr, which brought its small X electric SUV to market. In ANCAP testing it achieved an overall weighted score of 87.4 per cent.
“We saw a handful of new manufacturers enter the mix locally in 2024, and each of these – including Zeekr – have shown their commitment to bringing five-star cars to Australian and New Zealand consumers,” said Ms Hoorweg.
The X has a five-star safety rating based on vehicles built from July 2024 and went on sale in October the same year costing from $56,900 drive-away.
The new entrant gets a comprehensive list of safety equipment as standard, including features such as forward collision warning, blind-spot detection, front and rear cross-traffic alerts, a surround-view monitor, traffic sign recognition, and seven airbags.
Though the Zeekr X was the lowest of the top three in adult protection, its child and vulnerable user protection, as well as its safety assist technology, were all roughly on par and not far behind. You can read more about the full test results in our report here.
Of the 23 vehicles rated by ANCAP in 2024, 11 were new models not previously known to either the Australian or New Zealand markets, and all of them – with the exception of the Jeep Avenger – achieved a five-star result putting them among the safest new cars in 2024.
In fact, 74 per cent of all models rated in 2024 were given five stars.
However, some of those that didn’t get the full five stars were well below par, with the Hyundai i30 and Jeep Avenger given three stars each (with scores of 68.2 and 68.4 per cent respectively). You can read our full reports on why they missed the mark here for the i30 and here for Avenger.
The car given the worst safety rating for 2024 was the new Suzuki Swift hybrid, which got a one-star rating thanks to a weighted score of 56.6 per cent.
The Swift was given three stars in Europe, but local testing resulted in the ranking dropping to one star because Australian-delivered vehicles’ specifications differed to those sold in Europe.
“The new year presents an opportunity for manufacturers with upcoming new models to strive for a top ranking, and for models that didn’t achieve the strongest scores in 2024 to use this as an opportunity to enhance safety with future model iterations,” added Ms Hoorweg.
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
