2018 Holden Astra sedan gets ANCAP nod – but misses out on AEB

Holden’s all-new Astra sedan has received a five-star ANCAP safety rating across the range, despite missing out on the Astra hatchback’s autonomous braking tech.

Developed in Europe alongside the Opel-sourced hatch but assembled in Korea, the rebadged Chevrolet Cruze that will come here as the Astra sedan will arrive with an advanced driver assistance pack featuring ‘Holden Eye’ camera-based active safety functions. Like the hatch, this will include Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Forward Distance Indicator and Forward Collision Alert, but no actual autonomous emergency braking functions.

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While these and the Astra sedan’s active and passive safety features were enough to earn the top ANCAP rating across the range, ANCAP CEO James Goodwin said it was disappointing that AEB was not available, but was hopeful it will be one of the last Holden models not to feature the potentially life-saving technology.

“As our requirements become more stringent next year, it will not be possible for new models to achieve a 5 star ANCAP safety rating without an effective AEB system fitted as standard.”

All Astra sedan variants will come with reversing camera, rear parking sensors and auto high-beam as standard.

As with the Astra hatch, the active safety pack will be included in the upper-spec LT and LTZ variants while being a cost option in the entry-level LS. The LT and LTZ variants will also come with front parking sensors , blind spot monitoring and park assist. Rain-sensing wipers will be available only in the LTZ.

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Interestingly, the LS gained the five-star ANCAP rating without the safety pack, but the similarly equipped entry-level Astra R hatch remains unrated because Holden was unwilling to sacrifice one for separate crash testing.

Passive safety features including a high-strength steel safety cage and two ISOFIX child seat attachments also helped the sedan earn its five-star safety rating ahead of its June launch.

As well as the lack of AEB, the Astra sedan will be powered exclusively by the 1.4-litre turbo engine used in the entry-level Astra R hatch, missing out on the peppier 1.6 turbo of the Astra RS and RS-V.

On the plus side, that means a lower starting price that’s expected to be around $20,000, while Holden promises it the Astra sedan will also boast its own unique features not found in the five-door.