A five-star ANCAP rating is not essential for every family SUV, or the minimum standard for a model to succeed, according to Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris — though he still backs ANCAP as the organisation that lifts safety standards. The comments were made on 11 November 2026 at the launch of the Lepas L6, a Chery-group mid-size electric SUV that has not yet been crash-rated.
“I think ANCAP is a good thing,” Harris said. “Do I think it [maximum five-star safety] is absolutely essential for all families? No, I don’t. Do I think it’s the minimum standard to be successful? No, I don’t.” He added that meeting the protocols “does add time and complexity to brands”, but asked: if ANCAP is not there to lift the bar, “then who is?”
What this means for buyers
Harris is not arguing that crash safety does not matter, and he is not calling for ANCAP to be weakened. He is saying a five-star score should not be treated as the only thing that makes a family SUV acceptable, or the only thing that decides whether a new model will sell. That is a useful distinction for shoppers, but it is not a reason to ignore the rating on a car you are about to buy.
ANCAP remains the independent benchmark most Australian family buyers use. A five-star result is still the clearest published signal that a model met the protocol in force at the time it was tested. It is not a legal requirement for sale, and ratings can depend on build date, powertrain and even whether a recall has been carried out. Under the tougher 2026 ANCAP rules, testers also look more closely at how assistance systems behave in the real world, which has made a maximum score harder to earn. Euro NCAP, whose framework ANCAP uses, has said a four-star car can still be safe, just not necessarily the safest.
The Lepas L6, which prompted the remarks, had no published ANCAP rating at the time of the launch. Harris said the car already has the hardware for eCall — a feature that now scores points under the 2026 protocol — and that Chery is working on the backend so the function can be rolled out later, without owners needing extra parts fitted. An L6 rating was expected later in November 2026, but ANCAP had not published one at the time of writing.
Where Chery’s current SUVs stand
Several Chery models already carry five-star ANCAP ratings, with important limits. The Tiggo 7 is rated five stars for vehicles built from 30 June 2025, covering the current petrol and hybrid range. The Tiggo 8 is also five stars for vehicles built from March 2025, based on testing of the closely related Tiggo 7, and that rating covers petrol and plug-in hybrid versions. The Tiggo 4’s five-star rating applies to petrol models, including cars now sold simply as Tiggo 4; hybrid Tiggo 4 variants are unrated, and petrol cars built before 1 November 2024 only qualify once a related AEB recall (REC-006263) has been completed. The Chery C5 and electric E5 also carry five-star ratings, based on testing of the related Omoda 5 and Omoda E5.
The Tiggo 9, Chery’s largest family SUV, has not yet been assessed by ANCAP. Anyone comparing the Chery range in Australia should check the official ANCAP page for the exact model, fuel type and build date, rather than assuming a five-star badge on one Tiggo automatically covers another.
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