Seatbelt failure and one-star safety rating for Suzuki’s new SUV as brand scrambles to investigate

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Suzuki’s new Fronx small SUV has scraped a single-star rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) after performing badly in crash tests.

ANCAP said the Fronx also suffered a rear-seatbelt component failure that has been reported to Australian and New Zealand vehicle safety regulators.

ANCAP’s report awarded zero points for the Fronx’s Full Width Frontal Test in which it said “excessive chest loads” were recorded for the rear-passenger dummy, while 10-year-old and six-year-old ‘child occupants’ were subjected to “high head acceleration and excessive neck tension”.

The report added that the Fronx had already failed to achieve a single point in the Full Width Frontal Test before noting the failure of the rear passenger seatbelt retractor, which led to the rear dummy hitting the rear of the front seat.

The Fronx, which went on sale here in August 2025, also scored poorly in the Frontal Offset test, and overall was given a low 48 percent score for Adult Occupant Protection and just 40 per cent for Child Occupant Protection.

Fronx’s single-star rating is the lowest awarded by ANCAP to a small SUV sold in Australia, not including vehicles that have become ‘Unrated’ owing to their age or aging list of safety features.

ANCAP described the rear seatbelt failure as “rare and serious”, and called on Suzuki to restore confidence in the Fronx’s safety.

“What concerns us is that this particular vehicle could have been purchased by an ordinary consumer, and in an on-road crash this failure could have had serious consequences for the person sitting in the back seat,” said ANCAP’s chief executive officer, Carla Hoorweg.

“ANCAP’s view is that adult and child passengers should not travel in the rear seats of the Suzuki Fronx until the reason for the failure has been determined and relevant rectifications have been carried out.”

Suzuki Australia issued a statement today to acknowledge the Fronx’s poor ANCAP result.

“Suzuki Australia has elevated the review of this assessment to a matter of immediate focus and is working directly with Suzuki Motor Corporation in Hamamatsu, Japan, and Suzuki New Zealand to fully understand the ANCAP testing outcomes,” read the statement.

“This review is being progressed with urgency and at the highest levels of the organisation.

“A thorough and disciplined investigation is underway, and Suzuki will take any actions required to uphold our safety standards and the trust our customers place in our brand.”

No current Suzuki model tested by ANCAP has higher than a three-star rating. Aside from the Fronx, the Swift small car has the highest rating, while the Jimny baby 4×4 and Vitara small SUV are ‘Unrated”.

In August, Suzuki halted sales of the five-door Jimny to allow for an internal company investigation, the details of which were never made public.

The five-door Jimny XL is now back on sale, with the three-door Jimny returning to showrooms in February 2026 with new safety features. The three-door was taken off sale in March 2025 as it was missing a brake-related feature required to comply with updated Australian Design Rules relating to new cars.