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The new Jeep Wrangler has been awarded a shocking one-star safety rating by independent crash tester ANCAP. The low score mirrors the Wrangler’s one-star Euro NCAP result from last year.

 

At a time when high ANCAP ratings are the norm, the Wrangler could only manage scores of 50 per cent for adult occupant protection, 49 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 32 per cent for safety assist.

 

The only category where the Wrangler wasn’t embarrassed was child occupant protection which saw it score 80 per cent.

 

ANCAP chief executive James Goodwin said: “The safety performance of the Wrangler is limited, falling well shy of the expected standard in three of the four key areas of assessment.”

 

“Chest protection was a concern for the driver and rear passenger in each of the frontal crash tests; a number of penalties were applied for structural deformation and potential leg injury hazards, and base variants lack autonomous emergency braking altogether.”

 

The full report isn’t a good read for fans of the retro off-roader, ANCAP states “the passenger compartment of the Jeep Wrangler did not retain its structural integrity in the frontal offset test. Connection between the A-pillar and the cross facia beam was compromised, as was the footwell structure, and penalties were applied.”

 

“Protection of the chest was Weak for the driver and Adequate for the front passenger. Structures in the dashboard were a potential source of injury for both the driver and passenger and protection of the upper legs was rated Marginal.”

 

Higher grades do get autonomous emergency braking (AEB), however, as it’s not standard across the range it wasn’t tested. If AEB becomes standard on all variants, retesting could occur.

 

It’s also worth noting, side airbags to protect the head of passengers are not available for the rear seats.