Tesla tops ANCAP safety rankings for 2025

ANCAP has revealed its top safety performers for 2025, highlighting the safest new vehicles across key market segments in Australia and New Zealand.

The results identify the strongest-performing models assessed during the year, based on a weighted score across four assessment pillars: adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, vulnerable road user protection and safety assist.

ANCAP says the vehicles named as top performers set the benchmark for safety performance in 2025 and provide clear guidance for consumers and fleets seeking the safest options in each segment.

The ANCAP testing programme shows high levels of safety performance are increasingly available across a wide range of vehicle types.

The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed by ANCAP in 2025, delivering strong results across all areas of occupant protection and active safety technology. It marks the second time the Model Y has taken the top position, after being named ANCAP’s leading performer in 2022.

In the utility segment, the Toyota Hilux achieved the highest score among utes assessed during the year, following the release of several highly anticipated new models in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg says the results reinforce the importance of a holistic approach to vehicle safety.

“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist,” Hoorweg says.

“The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.

“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection in everyday driving.

“The breadth of top performers this year shows that high levels of safety are achievable across multiple vehicle segments, giving consumers clearer choices when safety is a priority,” she says.

ANCAP’s Best in Class results are calculated using a weighted sum of scores across the four assessment areas, with adult occupant protection carrying the largest weighting at 40%, to ensure winning vehicles deliver strong all-round safety performance.