The Jeep Grand Cherokee has received a divided safety rating in Australia. While the Grand Cherokee L range and the five-seat Grand Cherokee PHEV achieved a commendable five-star rating from ANCAP (the Australasian New Car Assessment Program), the petrol five-seat range (SWB) only received four stars. This downgrade was primarily due to a “nil” rating for rear passenger chest protection.
Euro NCAP conducted tests that revealed a discrepancy “in the performance of the seatbelts fitted to second-row outboard seats compared with the performance of the LWB petrol and SWB PHEV.” As a result, the five-seat petrol Grand Cherokee received a “nil score” for rear passenger chest protection. ANCAP clarifies that a nil score for a critical body region automatically limits a vehicle’s overall star rating to four stars, regardless of the overall percentage score for Adult Occupant Protection.
Both the four-star and five-star variants of the Grand Cherokee obtained impressive ratings in various categories, including 81 percent for adult occupant protection, 93 percent for child occupant protection, 81 percent for vulnerable road user protection, and 84 percent for safety assist.
Acknowledging the positive performance of the active safety assistance systems across the entire Grand Cherokee range, ANCAP stated that “Jeep takes customer safety very seriously.” A spokesperson for Jeep Australia assured CarExpert that the new Grand Cherokee meets Australian safety requirements, complies with Australian Design Rules (ADR), and offers more than 110 available safety and security features.
Regarding the four-star-rated petrol variant, Jeep Australia stated that since it meets seatbelt safety and design requirements, retrofitting the existing product will not be pursued. However, the company is actively considering modifying the rear outboard passenger seatbelts for future productions.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Jeep has encountered safety issues with ANCAP. In 2019, the Wrangler received a one-star safety rating.
