How safe are the 2022 Hyundai Staria and the XNUMX Staria-Load van? Rivals Kia Carnival and Toyota HiAce get five stars

The Staria car matches the five-star ANCAP rating of its sister car, the Kia Carnival.

The Hyundai Staria is on par with its cousin, the Kia Carnival, with a maximum five-star ANCAP crash safety rating.

The eight-seat family hauler fared better than the model it replaced, the iMax, which received only four stars.

The latest Staria rating also extends to the corresponding Staria-Load delivery van, which becomes the first commercial van to achieve five stars under the strict ANCAP protocols for 2020-2022.

According to ANCAP, the results apply to all Staria passenger transport options and all Staria-Load automatic versions.

There are only a few commercial vans in this segment that have a five-star ANCAP rating. These include the Ford Transit Custom (tested in 2012), Mercedes-Benz Vito (tested in 2014) and Toyota HiAce (tested in 2019).

Nearly every other commercial van has yet to be tested, with the exception of the Mitsubishi Express, a rebranded version of the Renault Trafic, which received a controversial zero-star rating this year.

ANCAP CEO Carla Horweg said the result represents a win for retail and business buyers, especially after the previous model, the iLoad, received only four stars.

“This is a welcome result for fleets and a significant improvement over the previous generation vehicle that replaces the Staria-Load,” she said.

“For so many small businesses and traders, their vehicle is their workplace. By providing the full range of available safety specifications in Staria-Load, Hyundai has demonstrated a strong commitment to road user safety in Australia and New Zealand, and we expect this five-star result to be well received by fleets and commercial buyers.”

The Staria car is in good company with the mechanically linked Kia Carnival, which set the safety benchmark for the segment when it was tested in early 2021.

ANCAP awarded Staria 85% for protecting adult occupants, 86% for protecting children, 65% for protecting vulnerable road users, and 74% for safety.

While this is a solid result for Hyundai, Carnival scored higher in these categories with 90, 88, 68 and 82 percent, respectively.

Crash Safety stated that the Staria performed well in vehicle-to-vehicle autonomous emergency braking (AEB) tests, however it is not equipped with rear AEB for reversing or AEB with crossover assistance. It does, however, have a central airbag, AEB, and a lane keeping assist system.

ANCAP noted that buyers with young children should be aware that child restraints can only be installed on the second row, not the third row, of Staria passenger cars.

Other five-star competitors include the Honda Odyssey (though it has just been discontinued), the Toyota Granvia, and the Mercedes-Benz V-Class. The Volkswagen Multivan/Caravelle has not yet been rated, and the LDV G10 has only received three stars.