JAMES GOODWIN

CHIEF EXECUTIVE, AUSTRALASIAN NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

BACK IN 2002 freshly relaunched Renault Australia decided to promote the fact its Laguna was the first-ever car to receive a five-star Euro NCAP rating.

Big deal? Yes, a very big deal. In those days there was a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ among the brands that Euro NCAP or local Australasian NCAP results not be promoted.

“When it comes to promoting my products I’m not really a gentleman, I suppose,” Renault Australia boss Leon Daphne said at the time.

Fast forward 16 years and clearly times have changed. Every car brand is conscious of the need to obtain an ANCAP five-star result and fearful of media pillory that comes with anything less.

There is no doubt the tireless promotion of ANCAP – which is funded by car clubs and governments among others – by stalwarts such as former chairman Lauchlan Mcintosh brought this change about.

These days, Chief Executive James Goodwin flies the flag and does it with a combination of media savvy and smarts, offering both the carrot and stick to car companies.

“They just never give up,” one car industry veteran told Wheels.

The direct effect of that doggedness has been vehicles with more safety equipment scoring better crash tests results than ever before.

With ANCAP now aligned with Euro NCAP, recent years of double-testing confusion is in the past. But the new challenge for car manufacturers is in the ever-toughening standards, especially in relation to driver assistance systems such as autonomous emergency braking.

But for all that, recognition is still hard to find from some in the car industry.

“They claim to have single-handedly driven car companies to react and improve safety features in new cars,” snorted one executive to Wheels.

“The truth is that car companies are way ahead of them and have spent billions of dollars on improving road cars. They should get the majority of the kudos – not ANCAP.”